Redemption
by Laurelin the Pale
Summary: After Mick pushes Beth away again in an attempt to protect her, Beth undertakes her own search for the Cure and finds that perhaps Josef can give her what Mick will not. Mick/Beth, Josef/Beth.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Moonlight or any of its characters, themes, or concepts. A few of the later characters will be mine, the ones you don't remember seeing before.

This is my first attempt at writing, so please read and review.

Chapter 1

6 p.m.

Mick's phone rang just as he shut down his computer and rubbed his strained eyes. Being human, as wondrous as it was, did not automatically come with a vacation from work, or an easy way to get used to being awake more during the day. There were still missing persons and cheating spouses to be tracked down, crimes that the authorities had given up on, and time spent avoiding Josef until Coraline's cure wore off. He sighed as he reached for his cell, thinking his latest client was calling back with yet another item forgotten in the previous three calls.

"Mick St. John," he answered, trying to be professional and suppress his irritation.

"Mick? It's me." Beth's voice immediately stopped him in his tracks. He had not heard from her in over a week… since Josh died and he had stupidly told Beth that he would never have turned her if she had been the one bleeding to death instead of Josh. Mick was still regretting that every minute of the day and night. Promising her eternal life if she were dying certainly would not have been something he could have said, but to leave her in the middle of her grief with the impression that he cared so little for her ate at his conscience. That, and the idea that in such a moment of weakness, he could see himself turning her out of selfishness, ignoring the monster she would become just so he could still be near her.

"Are you there, Mick?" Her voice snapped him out of his guilty remembrance.

"Yeah, Beth, I'm here. How are you holding up?" Mick asked cautiously.

"Better. Look, I'm sorry I haven't returned your calls. I wanted to make it up to you. Are you still, um, human? Or are you…" She seemed hesitant, as if avoiding using the word "vampire".

He smiled. There were times like this when she sounded so innocent. "Yes, I'm still human for now. Do you have a story? My PI skills aren't quite as good as they were, since I don't have the vampire sense of smell right now, but I'm sure…"

Beth cut him off. "No, no story. I just wondered if you wanted to have dinner? I made roast beef and I got a loaf of fresh bread from the bakery down the street, and..." She stopped herself. "I'm sorry, you probably have things to do, cases to work on." Beth was giving him an out, a way to say no gracefully. But he didn't want to say no, he always wanted to say yes where Beth was concerned.

"I'd love to, Beth, I just finished with work for the night, I mean day," Mick corrected himself. Do you want me to pick you up from the office?"

The sigh of relief from Beth was audible even without his vampire hearing. Mick wondered why she seemed nervous, but then he remembered the only other meal they had shared involved him drinking her blood in a sleazy motel bathroom in the desert. But now that he was human he was hoping for a second chance at eating with her, rather than, well, eating her.

Beth's voice sounded relieved and a little happier. "Actually I was thinking we might have a picnic. I know it's still a little early for you, but it is so nice outside it seems a shame to be stuck inside, and maybe we can enjoy the sun for a while." Mick imagined her smiling as she said that, but then felt guilty that he had been keeping her from the daylight world. "Maybe we could meet at the little park down the street from my place. There's a nice grassy area in front of the pond. Half an hour?"

"I'll be there."_ Herds of wild elephants couldn't keep me away_. His stomach rumbled loudly, something he had forgotten about being human. As a vampire, thoughts of blood and the consuming hunger from his entire body had let him know he needed to feed, but this simple growling of his stomach made Mick smile. Being human for him had recaptured the wonderment he usually attributed to children, and the joy at new discoveries that had nothing to do with body counts and fresh blood.

Mick grabbed his brown leather jacket and headed for the door. As he drove through the streets of L.A. he could not keep his mind off of Beth. "Maybe she's forgiven me," he thought over and over again, but then that darker part of his psyche reminded him: _Monsters don't get forgiveness_.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he parked the car halfway between Beth's apartment and the park, he saw Beth passing under a nearby streetlight, carrying old-fashioned picnic basket in one hand and a folded blanket in the other hand. With the sunlight in her long loose hair and the sundress baring her smooth shoulders, she was so beautiful it made his chest hurt just to look at her. He promised himself he'd remember how she looked at this moment for the rest of his life. Snapping back to the presents and remembering his manners he stepped out of his car and briskly walked up to her.

"May I take those for you?" Mick asked Beth with a smile.

"Be my guest," Beth responded. She looked happy to see him Mick thought, even though he was rather surprised at the about-face in her attitude for him. Just a week ago she was telling him to get out of her apartment so she could cry in peace, but now as he moved towards her to take the picnic basket and blanket from her, she kissed him on the cheek, lingering for just a second longer than what would be considered casual. Just as stunned this time as the last and only time she kissed him, Mick searched her eyes for some clue as to what was really going on inside that beautiful head of hers. Beth suddenly seemed nervous again and looked down at the picnic basket, as if ensuring she had handed it securely over to Mick before starting to walk, but she held the blanket clutched to her chest.

Mick was glad the park was fairly close, because the aromas coming from the basket made him realize he was starving. The familiarity of the smells reminded him of his childhood family dinners and the sense of normalcy and the blissful ignorance of youth that went along with home, something he never thought he'd be able to enjoy in Beth's presence. _Because usually I'm the monster of childhood nightmares, _Mick thought,_but not today. _

The rest of the walk they spent making polite small talk about work and how nice it was to be out in the daylight without worrying about Mick wilting like the delicate flower he normally was. As they reached a quiet spot by the pond and spread out the blanket Mick told Beth what he knew of the cure, including its temporary nature and unknown duration. Mick tried to play the sensitive modern man and assemble his own food, but Beth would have none of it. As Beth spread out the food containers, she seemed to enjoy Mick's anticipation as she piled on steaming roast beef, roasted potatoes, fresh bread, and a thick wedge of cheese. A glass of red wine was also handed over and Mick took a sip, enjoying the subtleties of its flavor much like he had previously enjoyed fresh blood, but without the guilt.

They ate in relative silence for a few minutes, mostly since Mick's mouth wasn't empty long enough to talk at any point, but his appreciative moans let Beth know he was certainly enjoying the meal. As he was helping himself to seconds, Mick asked, "Did you make the roast beef and potatoes yourself? I never pictured you as the Susie Homemaker type." Mick refilled Beth's wine glass and his own. He cautiously noted that Beth had only picked at her food, which was different that the other occasions he had seen her eat. _She's not over Josh. She still feels guilty about encouraging him to pursue the case that got him killed, and likely won't ever forgive me for not making him into a killer like me. _

Beth giggled. "My grandmother made sure I knew how to cook three different meals that would ensure I could get myself a respectable husband. Her theory was that by the third time a man came over for dinner he was hooked, and after that you didn't have to worry about a lack of cooking skills. So I have my three meals." Beth paused for a sip of her wine. "She also liked to say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and she insisted I learn how to cook so I wouldn't end up a spinster like her sister."

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Mick said between mouthfuls. "You're beautiful, successful, and you never give up… so I imagine just one meal would be all it would take." Mick suddenly realized he said that out loud, too close to Josh's death (who surely would have been acceptable to her grandmother) so he went back to eating and trying to avoid Beth's eyes. Mick did notice, however, that she seemed more nervous again, but was trying to hide it by making herself busy packing up her dishes and clearing up her side of the blanket.

She then lay down on her side, propped up on her elbow, drinking her wine slowly. "I'm glad you're enjoying it." The light from the setting sun behind her made her hair glow, as Mick always though the hair of an angel would in such light. She looked beautiful and vulnerable, lying there just a few feet from him. He found his eyes wandering over her body, wishing that his life had been different, that it had been Beth he had met in the 50's, and not Coraline. That he had asked Beth to marry him and be with him on their wedding night, so he would have awakened to the sight of her in his arms every morning, instead of his empty freezer every night. The fact that he was human now changed little for him when it came to Beth, because he knew the "cure" that Coraline gave him would wear off soon and he would return to the blood drinking monster he really was. And as wonderful as this temporary reprieve was, it was just a waking dream; a dream he had to control just as tightly as his vampire hunger, or he'd end up just adding to the hurt Beth already had to deal with. Being with her while he was a vampire could never happen because he'd never risk hurting her physically, or risk reducing her in his mind to a source of blood. He also could not be with her during this time as a human or he'd risk hurting her emotionally when the cure wore off and his fifty-five year long nightmare became reality again. But Mick could fantasize she was his, that he was kissing her as she stretched out on the blanket beneath him, her skin soft and warm under his touch, her small moans of pleasure just for him.

"Mick? Mick?" The Reality Beth was talking to him now. The Beth he couldn't ever have.

"Sorry. I must have been day dreaming." He set his plate off to the side and lay down on the blanket next to her, on his back, watching the colors change in the sky.

"What were you daydreaming about, hmm?" She was teasing him now, as if she had already guessed.

"How wonderful it would be to do this every evening." _The best lies are always closest to the truth,_ he told himself.

Beth rolled back onto her side, then moved closer to him. She looked as if she were trying to suppress the nerves or the sorrow again, and she somewhat succeeded.

"Anything else you would like to be doing every evening?" she asked, slowly closing the gap between them as she raised herself up on her arms and brought her lips down to his for a gentle but not chaste kiss. Mick could not help himself. He was a man after all, and he was being kissed by the gorgeous woman that haunted his thoughts and dreams. Mick kissed her back, passionately, his tongue licking her lips lightly, asking her to allow him entry to her mouth. She suddenly relaxed against him and her tongue licked his lips and their kiss deepened. Her mouth tasted of wine and something sweet that was just Beth. Mick thought he might never get enough of that taste. His hands tentatively stroked her shoulders, brings small moans of desire from her, moans that made him harder than he had ever been in his years as a human. He rolled Beth onto her back to continue his exploration of her mouth, stroking his hand gently down her side, just barely grazing the side of her breast.

Someone loudly clearing their throat next to their blanket intruded on the perfect moment, and Mick and Beth pulled back from each other slightly to stare up into the face of a stern-looking officer of the law. Beth sat up and made sure the policeman couldn't see down her dress given his obvious height advantage. Mick was quick to take over and deal with the issue.

The officer couldn't help but smirking at these two adults getting caught like some teenagers necking in a parked car. "You two need to take that elsewhere, like to a room. There's a nice respectable hotel about two blocks west of here if you'd like, but I have to ask you to keep it family-friendly here in the park." Beth was blushing furiously, which made Mick smile even more.

"Of course officer, we understand, and sorry about that. We must have just forgotten where we were for a moment. We'll just pack up our things and be on our way," Mick promised. Once the officer was gone, Mick laughed like he hadn't been able to since before the War.

Beth's cheeks became an even darker shade of red. Mick turned to her, "I feel like a teenager again, getting caught kissing the homecoming queen behind the bleachers in high school." Then the realization of what just happened, and what he just said dawned on him. He suddenly felt ill, like he had just encouraged a lost puppy to follow him home so he could beat it to death. A moment of awkward silence followed.

"Beth," Mick started solemnly.

She seemed to sense his change in mood and the light faded from her eyes. _Sometimes ignorance really is bliss,_ she told herself. _There is no more opportunity for ignorance, but maybe I can at least pretend to be blissful. _ "Let's get this stuff packed up, the sun's almost down anyway." Beth neatly packed away all of her picnic supplies and Mick folded the blanket.

The sun had gone down and the moon was just starting to rise as they walked back towards Beth's apartment. Beth shivered slightly. The sundress that tempted Mick so effectively during the daylight was now proving to be not warm enough for the evening walk as the breeze picked up. Mick noticed she seemed to be cold, and he stopped and took off his jacket, placing it around her shoulders.

Beth inhaled deeply, loving the smell of the leather and the smell of Mick enveloping her. Mick noticed the slight glimmer of hope in her eyes. There was no more comforting scent in the world to her, because she remembered it from when he rescued her all those years ago. It was the scent of strength, safety, and security. Beth pulled it more securely around her, feeling warmer from the heat of Mick's body that the jacket retained.

At least a hundred times during the walk home Mick had tried to talk to her about what just happened, to tell her it was wonderful, but a mistake that they could not repeat. He just couldn't get the words out, didn't know what to say, and then he finally admitted he really just didn't want to see any more hurt in Beth's eyes. She was walking next to him, looking like she was the one day dreaming now. A happy daydream. Mick decided to let her enjoy her dream for a little longer, before he had to shatter it. How could she make him so happy and so miserable at the same time? How could she be so close to him so often but separated by an immense chasm that would always keep them apart? At least until he was able to locate Coraline and find a way to be permanently human.

Before they knew it, they were standing outside of Beth's door. As Beth tried to find the right key, Mick noticed that her hands were shaking. Mick's hand closed around hers and steadied her while the lock turned. Beth closed her eyes and savored the feel of him that close to her again. She knew it would not last. She knew that Mick's self-hatred was already winning the battle with his desire for her, and the moment suddenly became awkward.

As they entered Beth's apartment and Mick draped the blanket over the back of the couch, Beth took the basked from him and moved towards the kitchen. Mick looked around the apartment quickly, out of habit more than anything, and he noticed she had five messages on her answering machine, and her cell phone was turned off and placed next to the phone, which was odd as she normally always had the cell with her. Mick followed her cautiously into the kitchen.

He couldn't look right at her while he did this. Never had he wanted to hurt her, but it seemed that is all he knew how to do, no matter how he tried. "Beth, I..."

She stiffened immediately. It was the tone of voice that was always followed by some explanation of how they could not be together, or how relationships between vampires and humans are "inadvisable", or how much of a monster Mick was, all the while trying to convince her she shouldn't want him. But she did want him, tonight more than ever.

"Don't, Mick. Don't say it, please. I know you won't be human for long, and I don't care. I know what vampires can do, and I love you anyway." She couldn't look at him because he'd see the tears in her eyes. Beth Turner, the fearless pursuer of serial killers in the name of internet news, was crying over the second man to try to leave her in a little over a week. Josh left her involuntarily, but Beth knew Mick probably would chose to go in spite of her objection. His sense of self-loathing was his ever-present armor, and he used it to keep her away. She shook her head at the irony. The one man in her life that had wanted to be with her more than anything she didn't want, and the one man she wanted desperately was someone she couldn't have.

Mick no longer knew what to do. There would be no rational, journalistic analysis of the facts or risks to personal safety tonight. Beth's emotions were obviously raw and she was hurting. Mick hated that he could think of no way for this to end without causing her even more pain. But putting a stop to it tonight may spare her the even worse hurt when the compound wore off and he was a full vampire once more. And a danger to her. God he loved her with every ounce of his being, but it seemed all he could do was hurt her.

Mick slowly approached. Beth was still standing by the counter, a half unloaded picnic basket sitting open in front of her. He could see that beneath his leather jacket her shoulders were shaking quietly. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. She wouldn't look at him; she just stepped into his embrace and rested her head against his chest while she cried. Mick wanted nothing more than to tell everything would be ok, but he couldn't lie to her. So he said nothing while he held her.

She looked up at him finally, and kissed him on the lips. This time, however, Mick did not return the kiss. Beth's eyes pleaded with him as she said, "please stay with me tonight Mick."

_Now she's just twisting the stake in my heart even more_, Mick thought to himself, but he knew he deserved it for allowing this to go on as long as it had and not putting a stop to the flirting soon after he realized she was interested. He just closed his eyes and struggled with his control.

"I want to, I really do, more than you know, but I can't Beth. We'll both regret it later when I stop being human. There is no more compound, no more cure. Until I can find or make more…"

She stepped back from him and her face suddenly became hard, somber. She met his gaze with and icy stare. "Get out," Beth said quietly but firmly.

"Beth, I'm so sorry." God, now he felt sick to his stomach. He'd never seen that blank look on her face before, and it frightened him.

"Get out," she said again. A calm, even tone of voice behind a now unreadable mask.

Mick just walked out the door and shut it quietly behind him. He hated himself now as a human more than he ever did as a vamp.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

9 p.m.

The intercom buzzed insistently. Josef had told his staff again and again not to bother him while he was eating. He ended his meal early and helped Christina to a chair to recover. Licking his lips of the last traces of her blood, Josef sighed and pressed the intercom button.

"Sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Kostan, but there's a reporter from Buzzwire here to see you, and she's been most insistent about speaking with you. Shall I tell send her away?" The woman's voice sounded calm and respectful, two attributes any secretary should always have.

Josef smiled. "Is she blonde and named Beth Turner?" Why Mick and Beth couldn't call before just stopping by with their latest emergency was source of irritation for him. Odd that Mick didn't just use the back entrance like he usually did.

"Yes sir," the disembodied voice said.

"Send her up, Janice. I would hate to upset a member of the press." Josef bent down and whispered to Christina to leave, that he was meeting with someone and he would see her later. No sooner had she reached the door, still applying pressure to the newest bite on her neck, than Beth Turner rounded the corner approaching Josef's office.

Beth could not help but notice the contented expression on the face of the young woman walking slowly out of Josef's office. _What were they doing?_ But Beth remembered was here for answers, not to discuss Josef's choice of dining partners. As she approached Josef held the door open for her and motioned her inside with a little too much formality. "Miss Turner, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company on this unannounced visit?"

Beth did not return his smile or play off of his sarcasm, just walked past him into his office. Her expression was completely empty of emotion, nothing to tell Josef why she was here. Josef had to admit that she was good. Beth simply stood in the middle of the room like the calm before the storm. "I need a referral to an expert, of a type I am sure you are acquainted."

Joseph gave a short laugh. "That depends. Are you asking as a member of the press, or is this more…" He was suddenly directly in front of her, invading her personal space but not touching her. Beth never flinched. "… personal?" She met his predatory gaze solidly and her heart rate never changed. He was trying to impress her, trying to establish his dominance in the relationship, so that he could set the tone of the conversation and answer what he liked. She'd seen that trick a hundred times as a reporter (minus the change in position that happened so fast she couldn't see it), but she had to admit the fact that knowing Josef really was a predator, and he really could kill her trivially would have made it more effective if she had cared at that moment.

"Personal." Beth said evenly.

Josef gently placed his hand on the small of her back and motioned towards a more informal sitting area in the corner of his office with several leather high backed chairs, a matching sofa, and a low table. He took the opportunity to close his eyes and inhale her scent, hoping it would give him some clue where she had been and therefore why she was here. She smelled like Mick, a lot like Mick. _What have they been doing?_ Josef snickered to himself.

"May I get you anything? I have do have refreshment more suited to the palate of a human." He asked Beth as she sat down in one of the chairs.

"Water would be fine, thank you." Again, no emotion in her voice or body language. He would have to remember to invite her for poker night when the other players were well sated with blood so they would not be tempted to infringe on Mick's territory. She might actually be a challenge to play against with that poker face. In the back of his mind he thought he had seen her blank expression on another woman before, but he couldn't place it… He handed her a bottle of water from the small refrigerator hidden behind a wall panel.

Joseph sat across from her with a half-full cup of blood. "You don't mind if I have a drink, do you? I was unable to finish my lunch due to your arrival." He was challenging her, trying to find a crack in the wall of stillness, to offend her human sensibilities, but she seemed completely unfazed by sitting across from a blood drinking vampire.

"Of course not." Beth said. She sat back slightly in the soft leather chair.

Josef had never had much patience with these little social games. He swirled the blood around in the glass and savored a sip, obviously enjoying the blood. "Are you going to tell me where Mick is?" She stiffened slightly at the mention of Mick's name. _Interesting._

"Were you looking for him?" Beth said. Now he recognized the expression. It was resignation and defeat, and a sense of determination that came only when you knew you had nothing else to lose. A dangerous combination in any woman, but more so with Beth since she knew their secrets. _Hell truly hath no fury like a woman scorned. _

Josef normally would have chided her about having a lover's quarrel with Mick, but he had enough experience with women over the centuries to know he was on dangerous ground here. "Do you want to tell me what happened between you and Mick and ask your questions, or are we going to dance around the subject all evening? I do have some other appointments tonight."

Beth seemed to flinch again ever so slightly at Mick's name but she recovered quickly. If he'd been human he would have missed it. "I would like the name and personal introduction to a document forger who can also provide sufficient background for verification purposes, including electronic and court records. You do have such a person, do you not?"

Josef took another mouthful of blood and let the thick liquid rest on his palate while he studied her, making a show of drinking blood to see how Beth would react. "Assuming that I did, why would I give such information to you?"

"Because it may help Sara," Beth replied with a determination that Josef did not expect. Now she had his attention, and he could sense no trace of a lie. He set his glass down quietly on the table. He studied her with a hardness to his features that had frightened many a mortal, looking again for some hint that she was lying to him, daring her to back down on that statement. He was the predator here, and Josef let her know that she could be prey if he so chose. She returned the look with the blank acceptance that she understood her place in the food chain, but was not afraid if death came to her in the guise of a four hundred year old vampire or in any other way. Josef had to wonder if she would welcome it. If so, she was a very dangerous woman.

This had to be about Mick somehow because his scent was all over her, Josef thought. If they had been getting along well she would not be sitting here with me, encased in his smell, looking like she did. Clearly they had been fighting.

"Tell me about the fight you and Mick had tonight." This time she didn't flinch at the mention of a vampire private investigator. Josef picked up his glass of blood and downed the rest in one gulp, making sure to lick his lips thoroughly. Beth paused for a moment, not disgusted in the least, but intrigued by the man in front of her, the only other vampire she had formally met, and he was obviously very comfortable with what he was and made no apologies for it. If only Mick could be that way.

"Not particularly, since it is not relevant to this inquiry," Beth said. But it did have everything to do with what might happen after she had secured the name. "I am unable to give you any details at this point, since this lead may yield absolutely nothing, but I do have good reason to suspect that there may be a way to wake her." Beth waited a moment for this to sink in, hoping that Josef would not push her on the theory, which was at best, a guess at this point. "Josef, I need the name of that forger, and some sort of introduction from you so that they do not think that I'm working on a story or for the police."

Whether false hope or not, Josef had always held onto hope that one day Sara would wake up and become his for eternity, but most importantly, that she would forgive him. "Done." Joseph stood up and went over to his desk, and took out a pen and wrote down an address and phone number, the picked up the phone and dialed.

"Logan, this is Josef Kostan. There is a young woman with me that requires your services, and you will provide her with a false identity, documents, and electronic records to back it up. She will also need various court documents…. No, she's human." Josef waited for the voice on the other end of the phone to finish. "I trust her, and so does Mick St. John, so you will help her because I have asked you to. I will wire the usual fee into your account, as long as this is done tonight." Another pause to hear Logan's response, and Beth tried not to be impatient. "Is that really necessary? Isn't there another judge that can sign the papers? Surely that can be avoided with proper money changing hands…. Fine, I will take care of it, but those documents had better be perfect." 

Josef hung up the phone and looked at Beth with the first uncertainty of the conversation, then he walked back around the desk and handed her his personal cell phone number and Logan's information. Josef waited with his hands on top of the small square of paper, again in Beth's personal space. "Beth… Are you sure you will need court documents? Anything signed by a judge? I'll have to remedy this situation in the near future, but right now the vamp community has only one judge that will do this for us."

"Yes, I need orders signed by a judge. Is that a problem?" Beth asked, but her breathing quickened at being so close to Josef. She hoped her plan would not unravel at this early stage.

"The judge is very suspicious of humans, and refuses to deal with any human not specifically in the service of a powerful vamp. He won't get you what you need from the judge unless he believes you are in my… how shall I put this delicately…"

"Your what? Your bed?" Beth asked, fully expecting that to be the thing that Josef would not want to offend her about, given her supposed relationship with his best friend. She thought she had made it clear by her behavior earlier that his being a vampire with a harem did not bother her.

Joseph smiled warmly at her. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "as tempting as that is Miss Turner, and as jealous as it would make Mick, what this vamp wants will make Mick more than jealous. He will be very angry with me indeed."

Beth stood there with Josef just an inch from her ear, his chest so close she could touch him if she brought her hands out. "What does he want Josef? Just tell me what has to be done. I'm not afraid."

"You should be afraid, of me. He wants you marked, so he can smell my ownership of you, and thereby know that you will remain silent about such activities. Since Mick has never marked you, and unless you had another vampire in your sights, it has to be me…" Josef put an arm around Beth's waist and pulled her towards him, and she offered no resistance. Encouraged by her body relaxing into his, Josef began kissing and licking her neck, just under her ear, sending shivers through her body. Beth closed her eyes and willed him to bite her, to drink her blood, to bring back that sweet sensation of pain and pleasure she'd had with Mick. Josef's fangs gently scraped the skin along her neck and she bent her head back and to the side, baring her neck for him. What more of an invitation did he want? She was clearly giving her permission, and judging by the smell of arousal and her increased breathing and heart rate, Josef was sure she wanted him to drink from her as much as he did.

Keeping one arm around her waist and moving the other up through her hair, Josef whispered, "ask me, Beth. Ask me to drink your blood and mark you as mine." His mouth returned to her neck as he pulled her tighter against him, so he could make sure when he did bite she would not be able to fight him and tear her neck on his fangs if she had second thoughts. He teased her with his lips, down to the hollow of her collarbone, and she moaned in pleasure for him. There was something in his competitive animalistic nature that triumphed at being able to seize Beth for his own, taking her from another male rival. He loved this feeling of power.

Beth pulled her arms up and around Josef's back, trying to draw him closer, "do it, Josef. Mark me. Drink." A final touch of Josef's vamp power to ease the pain of the bite itself into pleasure, and his fangs sank deeper into her neck than he needed to simply to feed. Her hot sweet blood poured into his mouth as her body tensed slightly then relaxed into his tight embrace. He fed for a moment longer than he intended, trying to quickly reining in his desire to continue to drink from her, beyond what he needed to, because her blood truly a delicacy to be savored with what he recognized as a very rare blood type. With the feel of Beth in his arms, so full of life, aroused and surrendering to his touch, made Josef wonder just how far Beth would let him go. But he withdrew his fangs and began to lick her neck to seal the bite wounds and finish the mark that would tell any vampire she met that Beth was his_. Not Mick's. Mine_, Joseph thought with a sense of satisfaction.

Beth sighed and clung to him as he moved them both over to a chair to recover. Joseph forced his eyes to return to normal and his fangs to retract, to deny himself another taste of Beth. He doubted that she would have resisted at all. Beth settled her face into the hollow of his shoulder and held onto his shirt, longer than he would have expected for a feeding born of necessity. Finally her breathing slowed and she asked, "I've never been marked by a vampire before. Is it finished, or is there more?" She sounded almost eager for there to be more, and Josef decided he was probably going to be in enough trouble with Mick the way thing stood. But he knew if he had told her she had to come to his bed to complete the mark, she would have done so without argument. Mick must have royally messed up this time.

"As much as I considered lying and telling you there was much, much more, the mark is complete. I will probably get staked for this as it is." He held her until she was ready to get up on her own, and he wondered why on earth Mick ever wanted to keep his distance from such a beautiful and delicious woman.

"I will do my best to ensure that he never finds out, and I would appreciate if you refrain from volunteering that I was here tonight. If he does happen to come after you for this, just remind him that tonight he gave up any right to me he thought he had." Her face hardened back into the expression she had when she walked into the office. "Thank you for the information. I'll be in touch."

Josef wondered just how Beth was going to keep Mick from finding out. Beth might as well have hung a neon sign around her neck that she now belonged to Josef Kostan. Mick was not going to take this well.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

10 p.m.

Beth replayed the scene from Josef's office in her mind while she drove to the address he had given her. If the bite was that mind-blowing, Beth could only imagine what sex with a vampire would be like. But then she quickly realized it wasn't going to ever happen with Mick, and Josef probably had plenty of women to choose from that were less likely to talk back. She made a mental note to find a way to ask Josef about just how "inadvisable" sex with humans was, or if it was just Mick's way of keeping her at arm's length.

When she arrived at this given address, the nondescript industrial building appeared at first glace to be deserted, but Beth noticed a side door in the alley had a light on above it. She noted the presence of a camera above the door and made sure to show the new bite mark on the side of her neck. A buzzer sounded and she pushed the door open.

Beth was taken aback. After all the vampire mystery and power she had become accustomed to with Mick and Josef, this place just screamed college nerd. There were dirty clothes piled in the corners, so as not to be in the way of the video game systems or computers, and the whole place smelled like sweatsocks. Making sure to mask her disgust with the vampire who was going to help her, she found him at his multiscreened computers. He looked up at her and suddenly his jaw dropped.

"Um, I'm ah, um, Logan. You must be, um, the one that Mr. Kostan sent?" Beth quickly discovered that being turned did not make you suave or dignified. It was clear that this vampire was rattled by being able to talk to a real woman. _I can use that to my advantage. _

"Yes, I am. You must be Logan." Beth smiled at him in a somewhat seductive way. "He told me you were the best at everything you do. I really hope that you can help me." Beth could almost see Logan's ego inflating as she gently touched his arm.

"I sure hope I can help you too…" Logan was infatuated with Beth. "What can I do for you?"

Beth smiled again and pulled a list out of her pocket. I'm going to need the following documents, and yes, I will need to have the last three on the list signed by the judge." Beth pulled her hair back and showed Logan the bite marks on her neck. Beth thought that Logan's eyes flashed blue for a moment as he breathed in. "Will this mark be sufficient?"

"Yeah, that will be fine, no doubt that you're Mr. Kostan's. Which is weird, because you also smell like Mick and you're wearing his jacket." Beth stiffened slightly at that comment. She had forgotten that Mick's scent would be so identifiable to other vampires, which was also strange given that she kept wearing the jacket because even she could tell it smelled like him.

"Can you help me with those documents, Logan?"

"Sure, piece of cake. I'll have the court documents ready in about a half hour, the rest will take until just before dawn. If you'd like to stay and wait for the first batch, you can take those to the courthouse and have them signed and entered in the records, then come back early this morning for the rest?" Logan looked eager to please.

"I'd love to come back then." Beth stretched out the word "love" a little for Logan's benefit. She had no idea how old he was, but he certainly didn't look like he had much experience with women. Well, in person at least. "But there is another little favor that I also need from you," emphasizing the "need". "I'd like to have another completely separate identity from the one you're making at Mr. Kostan's request, with all the bells and whistles that would make it untraceable to me. But this one would need to be just our secret, and you couldn't tell anyone about it, not even Mr. Kostan or Mick St. John." Beth inched closer to him, flirting with him mercilessly. "Could you do that for me, Logan," she whispered in his ear seductively.

"Yeah, I could do that for you, Miss…"

"My real name isn't important right now, just the two identities you are going to provide.

Logan seemed to recover slightly now that business was being discussed. "I accept cash and blood. The first set is covered already, but I charge $15,000 for the a complete identity, which includes school records, DMV registration, birth certificate, marriage license if desired, and a few people who can back up your story regarding profession and history."

Beth stayed close to him. "And the blood, Logan, what is the price on that?"

"I can discount the $15,000 by $50 for each unit of blood, and I do prefer O where possible." Logan couldn't help but look at Beth's exposed wrists.

"And what is the discount for fresh blood, straight from the source." Beth lightly rubbed the inside of her left wrist, just below where Mick had bitten her, trying to entice Logan.

Logan leaned in a little towards her wrist, keeping his eyes locked on it. "$7500, your blood, and my word that I will not tell a soul about the second set, which will be ready late tomorrow night…" Beth saw him lick his lips with anticipation, then suddenly snap out of it. "But you belong to Mr. Kostan and I don't have his permission."

Beth tried to reassure him. "But after tomorrow I won't be seeing him for weeks, so I'm sure he wouldn't be able to tell that long out, would he? And I certainly won't tell if you won't." This idea was one of her better ones, Beth decided. If Logan told, all Beth had to do was show the bite mark and claim he demanded blood from her, or threatened to kill her if she didn't allow the bite. She doubted Josef would be kind to Logan in that case…

Logan continued fixated on her wrist and tried to reconcile the vampire laws with the chance of getting blood from a gorgeous freshie. "No, I guess he wouldn't know by the time weeks had passed. And since you offered willingly…" Logan started to reach for Beth's wrist, but she quickly stood up.

"Then we have a deal," Beth said in a normal voice, breaking Logan's infatuation. "I'll be back in a half hour for the court documents." She smiled at him and walked out the door. Logan just suddenly realized he'd been taken advantage of, but the promise of her blood made him not care. He got to work.

Once she reached her car, Beth realized she had a lot to take care of in a short period of time. Heading for the pharmacy she had spotted on the way to Logan's, she dropped off her prescriptions, got a snack, two bottles of water and stocked up on iron pills. Doing business with vampires was going to be tricky if she ended up with too little blood. There was probably a reason that the Red Cross didn't let you donate twice in one day, but at this point she didn't really care. There really was a certain freedom in knowing you had nothing left to lose, but a fool's chance to gain something worth dying for.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Midnight

After a quick scenting of her neck at the courthouse and a meeting in the judges chambers, Beth had her signed court orders. She really hoped these guys didn't also work for the humans because everything looked perfect.

At midnight she was sitting in her apartment and waiting on her pain medication to kick in. She ignored the eight new messages that blinked at her from her answering machine. The pain in her head was only going to get worse with time, Beth knew that, but she hoped modern medicine could keep her going a while longer. The fact she had cancer didn't really matter now; her fate was sealed. She knew what most of those messages said anyway: they'd found a doctor who'd see her at Mayo Clinic or Sloan Kettering or some other specialty hospital, experimental treatments for advanced disease, how she needed to pick up her CT and MRI films and take them with her to see these specialists that maybe could buy her time, but not the functional time she needed. Sometimes the treatment really was worse than the disease. Josh had died just before the biopsy results came back. At least he would have wanted to stay with her. But Josh was gone, and Mick was out of reach. Even by the most optimistic estimates she had a month at most left able to work, and suddenly chasing after celebrities and crooked public servants no longer held any appeal for her.

Feeling her time ticking away motivated her to do what she could for someone she could actually help, a young woman very much like her who was in love with a vampire, but unlike her, she was loved in return by a man not afraid to claim her for eternity. Josef had found a way to be with a human, and hadn't cowered behind some desire to protect her from what he really was. Why she got lost along the way, Beth could only speculate, but she hoped that there was a way to bring her back. She was sure now, more than ever, that she needed to get the compound from Coraline that could reverse the vampirism, and give them a chance to figure out what went wrong and correct it before the effects wore off. Following Morgan around last month while trying to prove she really was Coraline had yielded more than proof, it had given her the location of Coraline's safe deposit box, and a search of her home had given Beth the key. For all she had tried to take away from Beth, Coraline had at least given her something positive, hope that another could live happily ever after. Not a bad way to spend the last few months of your life, really, even if she were living vicariously through another. _Someone should have a happy ending with the vampire they love. _

Beth was tired, but there was no time now to sleep. She'd sleep when she was dead. Her cell phone rang again; it was Mick, for the third or fourth time since she'd gotten home. Beth turned the phone over and removed the battery and threw them both in the trash can. If he'd had a solution, or a desire to throw caution to the wind and be with her anyway, he'd have been knocking on the door to her apartment. For anything less she wasn't ready to talk to him.

She unplugged the phone and answering machine and threw those in the trash too, followed by all the pictures of her and Josh, and even the old picture of Mick that she'd cut out of the book written by that serial killer. Beth filled a small suitcase with some clean clothes, toiletries, her valuable jewelry (including the engagement ring from Josh), her vitamins, iron pills, and the pain meds. She glanced around her apartment. Everything else had to be left, but she knew she would not really miss anything from here. It all reminded her of Josh, and of Mick, two people that she could no longer afford to have any remorse over if she was going to get this done.

She packed up most of the things she didn't want a stranger to see and planned to take them to the dumpster in the morning. She paid off the bills she owed currently by phone or online, and made plans to have her utilities turned off or sent to her landlord. After thinking she would try to eat something and going to the kitchen, Beth saw the remains of the meal she had fixed for Mick and lost her appetite. She set her alarm for four hours and tried to sleep.

She dreamed about Mick, about what should have happened that night if he had stayed with her. In her dream she still felt the warm caress of his lips on hers, his hands unzipping her dress and letting it fall to the floor. She started to unbutton his shirt but Mick could not wait and pulled it over his head quickly, revealing the firm expanse of his chest. Beth felt the warmth of his skin, the hardness of the muscles beneath, and the strength of his arms as they encircled her. He picked her up easily and carried her to her bedroom, laying her down upon the soft sheets as he climbed up her body with a look in his eye that was all about love and lust and held no hint of doubt.

Mick's mouth descended upon hers again, more demanding this time. He stared at her as a dying man lost in the desert stares at a fountain of cool water, as if he wanted nothing more than to fully immerse himself within her. Beth knew he soon would, and she moaned his name.

"Do you want me, Beth? Tell me. I want to hear you say it." His teeth on her earlobe teased her while his hands moved to more intimate places.

"I want you, Mick, please." Just as his hand brought her closer to the brink his fangs sank into her throat and a wave of pleasure like none she had ever felt washed over her.

A horrible noise shattered the dream into a thousand pieces. It took Beth a moment to figure out what was causing it, really longer than it should have taken, but finally she turned off the alarm and added the clock to the trash can. It would be dawn soon, time to go back to Logan's for the first identity and to tidy up the loose ends so she could leave L.A. for good.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

11:30 a.m.

After a sleepless night of guilt and soul searching, Mick couldn't stand it another minute. He had to go talk to Beth, try to help her understand he did care for her, even if they couldn't be together. It was way past time he told her that she was the reason he went on living, the reason he stayed in L.A. in spite of the increased risk others would recognize him from decades ago. Maybe if he told her how much he loved her she could forgive him. He wanted to promise to marry her as soon as he could find the cure, and swear that he would stop at nothing to find it. He had spend last night trying to figure out how he could give both of them what they truly wanted without the risk of hurting or killing her, but he finally had to accept that she knew what he was. _And she loves me anyway._

Josef might be able to help, Mick finally decided. He had been in love with Sara, and it was possible that he had been intimate with her before her turning, and maybe he knew a way. In four hundred years, Josef had to have figured out how to ensure the safety of human women during sex, because as many of them as there were running around Josef's house in the nude, Mick doubted Josef settled on just their blood. To be honest, Mick had never tried having sex with a human, because he had heard the stories of new turns killing their mortal spouses during sex, or vampires who got carried away with the bloodlust during the act and took too much.

Mick headed to her work, hoping to catch Beth before she started. Last night convinced him he could not bear to be without her, and their little games had to end. _I hope she can forgive me for last night._ Mick waited in the lobby of the office building that housed Buzzwire, with a long-stemmed red rose and a diamond solitaire that had been his mother's engagement ring. And he waited. Beth was usually in by noon, and it was already 1 p.m. Deciding that she must be out on a story, Mick went upstairs to find Mo and ask her when Beth would be back.

Mo looked surprised to see Mick, especially with a red rose in hand, and there were none of her usual witty comments today about she was a happily married woman but Beth was single. "Mick St. John, I didn't expect to see you here… I thought you might be with Beth." Mo looked puzzled.

"I was just looking for her. Do you know when she will be back?" Mick asked politely.

Mo looked like she was trying to figure out if he was really serious, or completely stupid. "You had better step into my office." Now Mick was worried as Mo closed the door. "She stopped by my place this morning before work. She wanted to resign. I'm surprised she didn't tell you… I had thought you two were, um, close."

Mick was stunned and it took him a moment to recover. "Did she say why?" Mick asked as he rubbed his thumb over the small box in the palm of his hand, a motion that did not escape Mo's notice.

"She said she was sick and needed to go out of state for treatment. You didn't know?" Mick shook his head. "She didn't want to tell me what she had, but my guess is cancer. There isn't much else one could even consider leaving L.A. for, as there isn't much that our hospitals can't handle. I finally talked her into long term disability so she could still get paid. I made it clear she could have her job back whenever she wanted."

Mick just sat down and tried to wrap his mind around what he just heard. Maybe she was lying to Mo, or just wanted to quit and didn't want to give the real reason, or maybe she was leaving town because of him. He had to find her.

On the way to her apartment, Mick tried her cell phone once more. It went straight to voicemail again, and he left her the third message of the day. She wasn't answering her home phone either. Outside of her building was a large truck from the same company she had hired to sell Josh's furniture and clean out his apartment. But this time, they were loading Beth's furniture.

Mick didn't wait for the elevator and bounded up the steps two at a time. He came to the open door of Beth's now half-empty apartment. A small woman in her 70's that Mick recognized as Beth's neighbor was standing in the middle of the room directing the workmen with stern manner that convinced Mick she had to have been a schoolteacher before her retirement. Maybe it was Mick's expression of disbelief, but she approached him and said, "are you Mick St. John? Miss Turner said you would be by today. Isn't it great about her new job? She's going to love traveling all over the world with CNN."

He just nodded and continued to look around. Too many of her personal effects were still here… her clothes, address book, the blanket from last night still draped across the sofa where he had left it. The former schoolteacher handed him an envelope then returned to supervising the dismantling of Beth's home.

He tore open the envelope and read the note with disbelief. "I hope you don't mind that I kept your jacket. Please don't look for me, Mick. I need to be alone for a while."

Catching the attention of the schoolteacher, Mick asked if Beth had left a forwarding address. "No, I'm sorry. She said that I was to take the money from the sale of her belongings and pay any bills that came in after she had left, and that I could keep the rest."

He handed the woman his business card with his cell phone number. "Please call me if you hear anything from Beth. She's very important to me and I'm worried about her." The woman nodded her head before turning and putting some of Beth's clothes into boxes.

Mick could not believe what was happening and kept hoping that this was just some bad nightmare that he'd wake from soon, but it just kept getting worse. Beth was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

4 p.m.

Joseph had barely combed the frost out of his hair when his cell rang. "What?" he barked into the phone, irritated that he hadn't had so much as a drop of blood since he woke up and already someone was bugging him.

"Josef, it's Beth. I may have something. Can we meet somewhere…private?"

"Do you mean somewhere secluded and romantic with a plush rug in front of the fireplace and a nice view of the ocean sunset or do you mean somewhere away from Mick?" Josef couldn't resist taunting her about Mick, and apparently about bedrooms. Teasing Beth was a distraction that helped keep his cautious optimism about Sara in check. He was not ready for another disappointment where the love of his life was concerned.

Beth didn't hesitate. "The former is at your discretion, but the latter is the most important. I can't do what needs to be done with him following me around."

He really had to find out what was going on before Mick came looking for advice on women, which after 400 years Josef was not much closer to figuring out. Well, except the physical part. That puzzle he liked to think he had solved. "I'll send a car for you. Where are you?"

"Starbucks on Wilshire in Beverly Hills. How soon can they be here?"

"Twenty minutes." Josef hung up and dialed his chauffer to let him know to have the car out front immediately. Throwing on a pair of crisp khakis and a neatly pressed dress shirt, Josef grabbed the flask of fresh blood from the refrigerator concealed in his bathroom. He put it inside of his jacket and headed out to the car, shielding his eyes from the sun, grateful for the completely opaque windows he'd had installed in the limo.

Josef grabbed a crystal goblet from the wet bar and poured himself a half glass. It was Marissa's blood. He rested his head back as he sipped the blood like a familiar fine wine and gradually his fangs retracted and his eyes changed back to human.

Beth was waiting outside of the coffeehouse when Josef's limo pulled up. He told his driver that it was the blonde they were picking up, and the young man promptly stepped out and opened the rear door for her. "Miss Turner? Mr. Kostan is waiting for you." He held out his hand to help her down from the curb but she declined and stepped quickly inside the car. She sank into the soft leather seat, setting down her leather briefcase, and put her head back, closing her eyes and hoping for a few moments of rest during the drive.

Josef quickly realized that Beth had no idea he was in the car and probably thought he would be waiting for her at their destination. Watching her quietly for a minute, he recognized the breathing that showed her to be asleep. She really was beautiful and Josef could easily understand what Mick saw in her. He quickly moved to the seat beside her and delicately stroked the bite mark he had left on her neck the night before, feeling a strange sense of pride that she would be seen as his to all other vampires. The mark seemed to be healing well, but it reminded him of the feel of her in his arms as her blood flowed into his mouth. He replaced the fingertips on her neck with his lips, placing gentle kisses where before he had sunk his fangs so deeply into her. She stirred slightly under his touch and he smiled at her responsiveness to his touch. Josef felt his fangs extend and his eyes go light blue in response to the closeness of her blood and his ever present hunger, which had not be sated by the small glass of blood he'd just finished. Finding her right arm, he pulled her wrist closer to his mouth, watching her reaction. He wouldn't take blood from her if she was unwilling… he simply didn't have too. There were eager women at his home that very moment awaiting his summons, and as enjoyable as the taste of fear was on occasion, he found himself wanting her blood only with the subtle nuances of passion in her veins. He had enjoyed her willingness last night very much.

Beth felt the gentle scrape of teeth and the cool wetness of Josef's lips on her wrist which was encircled in his steel grip, and she opened her eyes so she could see him. Gone were the features which made his face human. He was completely vamped out, leaving no doubt in her mind what he was and that he could kill her at his whim if he wished, but Beth found that thought was arousing rather than frightening. She reveled in his strength and masculinity at that moment, and by the desire she so clearly saw in his face. _If only I could have that effect on Mick. _ Whether the desire she saw in Josef was purely for her blood or for her body she didn't know, but at that moment she didn't care.

She tried to move her arm closer to his mouth while relaxing into his grasp. "Well, well, Miss Turner. You seem very eager. By vampire customs, because you bear my mark your blood belongs to me and I should not ever have to ask to drink." He slipped his other arm behind her back so their faces were very close, and she could see his sharp fangs clearly. In a way, Josef was trying to see if she would startle, but she showed neither disgust nor hesitation.

"Then don't ask, Josef. Just drink." In a split second he had sunk his fangs into her wrist and the delicate sweetness of her blood filled his mouth. There was something different about the taste tonight, but she was still rich and full of life. Beth's other hand was on his head, pressing him closer to her, encouraging him with gentle pressure. He took only a few mouthfuls, mindful that he had taken extra the night before, and he used all of his hard-won control to pull back and just lick the wounds until they closed. Beth's head remained back against the seat and she had a blissful expression on her face, as if she was sated. It took many of his new freshies months to become so relaxed around him, but Beth was a natural. It made him wonder again just what had gone one between her and his best friend, both before and during their disagreement. Had Mick's inner vampire finally come out to play with Beth? Did he panic because she liked it? Josef was hopeful Mick had come to some sort of peace with the darker part of himself, but he seriously doubted it.

Josef suddenly realized what the difference in taste of her blood was. A very faint taste of morphine. The taste was similar to what he remembered from the late 1800's opium dens in China, which were, by the way, fabulous buffets if one were a vampire. Beth was either a closet addict or she had pain she was treating. Josef was willing to bet it was the latter. She didn't look high before he fed from her, she looked tired, and in a way that she didn't use to.

"As intoxicating as your blood is, Miss Turner, we have arrived at my humble abode. Would you care to come inside?" He ran his hand up the inner part of her thigh and with a glance she called his bluff, moving her legs apart slightly as her eyes dared him to go higher. He smiled at his worthy opponent and nodded as if conceding that she had indeed caught him. Beth knew Josef had no problem indulging in the pleasures his wealth and nature afforded him, but he was also a man who knew when to take care of business, and he would want to know what his $15,000 had bought him today.

Josef knocked twice on the window and the door was opened by his chauffeur. Beth was unsteady the first several steps as she seemed to be thrown off balance by the large bag on her shoulder, but Josef was there instantly with his arm around her waist to steady her. "Show off," she whispered so softly only a vampire could hear. They were at the underground entrance to what could only be described as an estate. After a turn of a key and the proper code entered into the keypad in the elevator, the doors opened to a modern but well decorated hallway. Another keypad entry opened what Beth recognized as a solid metal door concealed by tasteful paneling.

The door opened into an office space paneled in mahogany, with a large desk and several comfortable looking leather chairs. There were two computers in the room, one at the main desk and one to the side on a low counter near the built in bookshelves. Josef walked briskly into the room and put away the rest of Marissa's blood into a concealed refrigerator, which Beth couldn't help but notice contained several other similar bottles.

"If you'd like to freshen up before you tell me every last detail of what you've discovered so far, there's a bathroom through here." Josef pushed open a section of the wall that clearly had some sort of concealed latch and motioned towards the opening.

The room beyond was straight out of an architectural magazine in its scope and detail. Dark tinted glass separated them from a deck that looked out onto the ocean, the sunset having already starting given the time of year. A bed that was larger than king sized sat up against one wall, complete with blood-red satin comforter and pillows. Beth was therefore not surprised to see a well enclosed fireplace complete with the plush rug in front. She raised her eyebrow and looked at Josef, who looked quite pleased with himself.

Beth was impressed. "You really do believe in having your cake and eating it too."

"Of course I do, Miss Turner. One does not remain content with compromise as the centuries pass. I want it all." He flashed his vampire light blue eyes at her for only a second. "Now hurry back so that we can begin."

The bathroom was floor to ceiling white marble with an enormous black spa tub set into the floor in the center of the room, large enough to hold four or five adults. A separate glass walled shower could probably fit the same number, and a veritable mountain of thick blood red oversize towels rested on a rack near the sinks. A sleek black freezer sat against the far wall, looking only slightly out of place in the palace-like surroundings. Beth stood there for a few minutes lost in her own imagination about what Josef did here that required such spacious plumbing fixtures. She didn't know whether to feel honored that he had shown her his private quarters or insulted by him deliberately flaunting his prowess with women.

"Are you finished gawking yet? I'm waiting," Josef said with a feigned impatience. He knew she would need a few minutes to take it all in. Being wealthy and immortal really was everything he had hoped it would be… except that he didn't have Sara to share it with. Yet. Josef allowed himself a rare moment of personal doubt as he wondered if really was the same vampire today that he was then, or if the guilt and remorse had changed him so much that he wouldn't be the Charles Fitzgerald that Sara fell in love with over fifty years before. _Will she even be able to forgive me for taking all these decades from her, for not being vamp enough to complete the transformation, and for sentencing her to an eternity of drinking blood in the night?_

Brushing aside his insecurity with a practiced ease, Josef resumed his business persona as Beth returned a moment later. She had small droplets of water still clinging to the delicate hair around her face, and a fresh application of makeup had concealed some of the dark circles under her eyes, but she still looked tired, Josef decided. He hoped her sleepless hours were spent finding a cure for Sara and not moping about Mick.

"What do you have for me?" The almost predatory demeanor that Beth recognized from her first meeting with Josef was back. It wasn't hard to see why he was financially successful. She sat down in one of the chairs across the desk from him, and pulled out her laptop from her bag. While waiting for it to boot up, she also produced a very old looking leather bound book, sitting inside a plexiglass case with a very modern looking flash drive.

"These are from Coraline's safe deposit box, which your deposit into Logan's account allowed me to acquire" Beth took the flash drive and plugged it in. "But before we discuss the details of what is in here, I would like to ask you some questions about you and Sara, if that's alright."

Josef leaned back in his chair and suddenly felt like she was going to ask him things he didn't want to answer, but he allowed her to continue. "Ask."

"Do you have any reason to think that you had excess silver in your body at the time of her turning?" Beth had pulled out a small notebook and was looking like the prepared reporter in every way.

Josef tried to remember when the last time he'd had a run in with the poison before he tried to turn Sara. "No. The last time someone had managed to shoot me with a silver bullet was twenty years before, and that was quickly removed and disposed of."

"Did you feel normal before her turning? No subtle signs of silver accumulation that you might have overlooked?" Beth continued.

"Miss Turner, a vampire does not simply overlook the signs of silver in their body. It's a poison that spreads through the body and feels like acid poured into a wound. Having experienced the sensation on more than one occasion prior to the 1950's, I think that I would have been aware of its presence." Josef had to remind himself that while Beth knew a little of what it meant to be a vampire, he was sure Mick had shielded her from the worst of it.

Without any sign of having registered the chastisement, Beth moved on to the next question undaunted. "Had you ingested Sara's blood prior to her turning, and did it taste similar on all occasions?"

Now she was getting personal, Josef thought. This had better yield results, because these were details he had never shared with anyone. "No. Her turning was the only time I had her blood." Now he was getting defensive, which Beth found interesting. Beth thought Josef looked uncomfortable, which was odd, because he never seemed to look uncomfortable drinking blood or discussing that topic previously.

She moved down her list to the next question, but what she really wanted to ask was _"why not?_" "Did her blood taste strange or different, or did you feel ill at all after the attempt of turning her?"

Josef paused for a moment and his eyes glazed over as he remembered that night. "I felt sick when I realized that she was not waking up." He paused and looked unhappily at Beth. "Absolutely none of this information leaves this room. Are we clear, Miss Turner?" His ice-cold stare would have caused most adults to run screaming from the room.

"Crystal clear. Now what happened when she did not regain consciousness?" Beth continued in her most dispassionate, professional voice.

"I vomited up most of the blood I'd taken from her. I knew something had gone wrong wrong with the turning, and it was my fault. I was sure I had killed her permanently at that moment." Joseph looked pained.

Beth had hoped for Sara's sake that inside Josef hid the vampire that Sara thought he was when she wrote about him in her diary, but now she saw just how much that night had changed him, made him harder. "Josef, I'm sorry I have to ask these questions. But I really believe that Sara had silver poisoning the night she was turned."

Josef was behind his desk one minute then standing in front of Beth the next, pulling her up by her arms as his eyes burned nearly white. His fangs had descended and he looked angry. "She did NOT. I would have known." He was gripping her arms painfully and she impassively returned his stare. Josef wanted her afraid of him, wanted her to cower and take back what she had said. But no smell of fear emanated from her, and Beth did not cry out when he squeezed her arms hard enough to bruise… it was as if she was simply waiting. The oddity of her reaction brought Josef back to his senses and he suddenly let go of her arms. Beth sat down, picked up her fallen notebook and pen, and just looked at him as if she was waiting for him to compose himself enough for her to continue, like his outburst had never happened.

"My apologies, Miss Turner. I'm not used to my food insulting me." He was trying to hurt her feelings by referring to her in that manner, but it didn't matter. _After Josh dying, Mick turning me away, and finding out that I have at most three painful months before I die, there is nothing left inside me to wound_. Given the last few weeks, his outburst was insignificant, even with the physicality of it. She would go on trying to help Sara as she could, but if death came before she was done, so be it. It didn't matter if Josef was the angel of her death; at least he could make it quick and relatively painless. The cancer was not going to be so kind.

"Josef, would you like to take a few minutes before we continue? I can step out if you like." Beth deliberately addressed him by his first name and did not return the formality of address that he used on her, mostly because every time he called her "Miss Turner" it was with a hint of condescension. _S_he had known where she stood with him from the first day they had met. Beth hoped that returning Sara to him would change his mind about her place in the food chain.

"That will not be necessary. You may continue, but I assure you that Sara does not have silver poisoning." Joseph had regained his composure on the outside, but inwardly he was worried that Beth might be correct. Any vampire with enough silver in their body to induce a catatonic state was beyond salvage. He'd seen it happen to his blood brother, just a few days after their sire had turned him, shot with silver bullets that fragmented on impact. Josef hadn't been able to cut out the fragments before he had slipped away.

"Did Sara have any sinus problems? Congestion, hay fever, frequent sinus infections?" Beth now had his full attention. _How could she know about that? It wasn't in the diary._

"Yes, as a matter of fact she did. She saw her physician regularly for one of the few antibiotics that they had in those days. Why does that matter?" Josef asked with sudden interest. As awful as the news was going to be for Josef, Beth was elated that she may have found the cause, making her one step closer to finding a way to reverse it.

Concealing her joy at this small victory, Beth said, "it matters because there's a chance she may have been using an organic salt of silver called Argyrol to help treat the infections. It was a commonly prescribed antibiotic nose drop that was pulled from the shelves in the 1960's after it was realized that it caused argyria, silver poisoning, in those who used it frequently and for prolonged periods of time." Beth consulted her notes on the matter before continuing. "Did you every notice any blue or purple discoloration in her nose or on her skin before you turned her?"

"Miss Turner, while I loved every inch of Sara when she was human, I do not make a habit of thoroughly examining the nasal passages of the women I spend my time with." Beth turned her laptop around so Josef could see the picture on her screen of a man with blue discoloration on the inside of his nose and on his face.

Josef picked up the phone next to him and hit a number on speed dial without ever taking his eyes of off Beth. "Rosa, this is Mr. Kostan. I need you to find a flashlight and a magnifying glass and look inside of Sara's nose and tell me what you see." While he waited for the nurse to return, Josef's could barely contain his anger. If it was silver that kept her unconscious, then he really had killed her, taken her in the prime of her life and killed her. The transfusions may have kept her from true death, but the silver was ensured she would never wake up.

What seemed like an eternity later, Josef said quietly, "thank you, Rosa. No, that is all I need for now." He looked at Beth like she had just killed the woman he loved. "It seems you are correct. Her nose does have a blue tint to it that I cannot attribute to the turning, but that still does not prove enough of it was in her blood at the time to do this to her. I had heard cautionary tales from some of the older vamps about not drinking the blood of those who had blue skin, but I always assumed they were talking about people whose skin was blue because they weren't able to get enough oxygen. Maybe it was this that we were taught to fear," he said, staring at the picture on Beth's computer again.

Beth sighed. "Maybe the compound of silver that she used was in some way different than the silver metal you may have come into contact with more frequently. Maybe it wasn't the emotions of those moments that made you empty your stomach, but rather the silver content of her blood. Could the silver have tasted different because it wasn't silver metal?"

Josef sank back into his seat and closed his eyes. "I don't know." His chest hurt from the regret, as strong now as it was fifty years ago.

"I thought you might say that so I took the liberty of having a friend of mine who works in a lab prepare a few samples." Beth reached into her bag and pulled out several test tubes of blood, all sealed inside other test tubes and placed in airtight containers. "Mick and I really didn't discuss a vampire's ability to discern trace substances in blood, but please hear me out on this, Josef." His expression was reluctant. "Poisoning you is not at all my intention, but perhaps you could smell or taste a very small amount, just enough to determine if any of these seemed similar to Sara's blood. Would it be safe for you to do that?"

If only to prove her wrong, Josef took the three vials from Beth and carefully opened each one, smelling each in turn. The first he immediately closed and put back inside its wrappings. "That one definitely has silver in it. I don't even need to taste that one."

Beth nodded in agreement. "That was the elemental silver and what my friend called the 'positive control'."

The second one he looked puzzled about. After smelling it he put a small amount of blood on his fingertip and licked it off gingerly, but seemed unaffected by it. "That one tastes fine to me, a B positive, not my favorite blood type, but I don't detect any silver or anything else unusual in it."

Beth agreed. "That was the silver-free one."

The third vial Josef smelled several times then closed his eyes to hide fear he hadn't felt in decades. He tasted just the smallest amount from around the rim of the vial and his heart sank. "That's it. That's what Sara's blood tasted like."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

7 p.m.

Josef sat stunned for a moment. "Since the blood transfusions did not work right away, she's not going to wake up from this," he said staring at Beth but not seeing her.

"There might be a way. But I need to ask you something first." No response. "Josef!" Beth yelled at him to get his attention, and it seemed to work a few heartbeats later.

"For God's sake, I'm right here and I'm a vampire. You don't need to yell at me, I can hear you just fine."

"Glad to hear it," Beth said. "At least I have your attention now. I need to ask you something very important." Josef was finally looking at her, rather than through her. "Would you want Sara back with you as a human, for only her mortal lifetime, if it wasn't possible to bring her back as a vampire?"

Josef didn't hesitate. "Yes. I'd do anything to have her back. I wouldn't care if she were human." Beth seemed visibly relieved. "Is that option available?" he asked.

Beth picked up the case containing the leather bound book and gently took it out. "Coraline was able to be human for a time, at least a few months, by using some compound that masked the vampirism. Mick said you had seen her and agreed with him that she appeared human in every way. The book and the memory stick came from her safety deposit box. I don't know if she is the author of the book or not, but apparently she was trying to recreate the mixture because she had only a small amount left. If it is possible to make more, you may be able to give it to Sara to keep her human. It sounded like she had only a mild case of silver poisoning, not enough to cause her any problems as a human, only as a vampire."

Josef looked at Beth with a sudden respect that she had not seen before. "Thank you," he said, and for once, he truly meant it.

"Don't thank me yet, there is still a lot of work to be done. There was no compound in the safe deposit box, just this book which I think might have information on how to make it, and some computer records of Coraline's attempts to date. So far, it has mentioned several of the components involved in the synthesis, but no complete ingredient list or recipe. The book may well have that information, but unfortunately I took Spanish in high school, not French. I have been trying to translate bits and pieces all day with the help of an online dictionary, but it just isn't making much sense to me. You don't happen to speak French, do you?"

"Oui. I spent a considerable amount of time in Paris in the late 1800's. I'll take a look at it tonight and let you know when I have something. Would you like to rest in the guest room for a while? You look tired. I can have some food sent up for you, though I've already eaten," and let his eyes flicker briefly to vamp to remind her of their earlier encounter in the limo.

Beth hesitated a moment. "I appreciate the offer, but I have some other leads on this that I want to run down this evening. Here's my new cell phone number, which I would appreciate if you would keep to yourself."

Josef nodded as his eyes looked her over in a concerned, rather than erotic, way. "You mean not give it to Mick? Very well. But Beth, you mentioned earlier that you didn't know how well vampires can discern traces of chemicals in blood. The answer is that while I did not recognize Sara's condition due to its unusual nature and my state at the time, I am quite adept at detecting trace amounts of a variety of substances, including medications… even a small amount of opium derivatives that might be used for pain control, for example."

The emotionless mask that she had worn last night when she stormed into his office suddenly reappeared. "I'll make a note of that for future reference. I need to go." She put her computer back into her bag and stood up. "Can your driver take me back to Starbucks, or may I use your phone to call a cab?"

"Anthony will take you wherever you would like to go, including your home," Josef said and made a quick call to ensure the car would be waiting for her when she got downstairs. Before Beth realized what he was doing, Josef was politely guiding her down the hall to the elevator, arm in arm with her in an old-world gentlemanlike way. She found herself wondering if he had been such a man in years past, though she knew for sure he was no gentleman now. Strangely, that thought did not bother her like she thought it would, because she envied him his ability to just live in the moment. As they walked, his fingers gently rubbed back and forth over the bite mark on her wrist that he had given her just a few hours before, and he smiled at the slight shudder while Beth closed her eyes for a moment. He loved being able to do that so easily, to remind her of how much she enjoyed his teeth sinking into her body. He wondered again why Mick had let her get away.

Beth stayed silent for the few minutes it took to reach the limo, and Josef made no move to interrupt her thoughts. He motioned Anthony away and helped her into the car himself. As she was getting settled, he continued to hold the door open until she looked up at him. "Why are you doing all of this, Beth? I didn't ask for your help, and you certainly do not owe me anything. You don't even know Sara beyond what you read in her diary. Why then?"

That expression of resignation that he had seen last night returned to her face. She looked into his eyes for a few seconds before answering, "because Sara and I are alike in many ways, and one of us should get to live happily ever after with the vampire they love." She reached for the door handle and Josef stepped back out of her way as she slammed it shut. He watched the car drive away and wondered how long it would be until Mick realized his mistake.

Josef didn't have to wait long for the answer to that question. Mick walked into his office a few hours later and sat down in the chair while he was pouring the last of the AB negative into a glass. He carefully put away the leather book that Beth had left with him, and started to slide the glass across the desk to Mick. "You probably need this more than I…" Josef suddenly realized the extra noise in the room was Mick's heart beating. "What the hell, Mick. Did Coraline finally let you in on the 'cure'?" He decided not to hold back the condescension in his voice, as he intended to pretend Beth had never been there dangling that hope in front of him. Mick knew that Josef could never figure out why any vamp would willingly choose mortality. Josef wanted to have Sara back as a human because that was likely the singular option available, but as far as he was concerned, mortality could never be better than the gift Mick had been given on his wedding night.

Mick looked like hell, Josef decided, and he smelled like alcohol. "Yeah, she did. But there isn't any more and I don't know how much longer this will last. Coraline is also gone, with her high-octane vamp brother."

Suddenly thankful that Mick was human and therefore unable to catch Beth's scent on him, he said, "so why are you here, Mick? I have no intention of getting involved in Coraline's family squabbles, and I imagine you aren't here for the freshies… or are you?" He took the glass back and downed the contents without taking his eyes off of Mick, unable to suppress his contempt for Mick at that moment for letting Coraline get away. If she had remained in L.A. there would have been a better chance at finding what he needed for Sara.

Running his hands through his hair and resting his head back against the chair, Mick replied, "Beth's gone." Even though Lance had beaten his body several days ago, it wasn't until Beth left that his spirit was broken. He no longer felt even the slightest bit of joy in his mortality, because it made it harder for him to find Beth. The vampire sense of smell was something he had taken for granted, but what he wanted most now was to throw himself at her feet and apologize.

"Dead gone? Vacation gone? Left your sorry ass gone?" Josef couldn't resist proverbially twisting the knife. Mick had screwed up big time, bad enough that he wasn't sure if Beth would ever take him back, but a little goading on Josef's part might get the full story.

"The last one just about sums it up. She also quit her job, moved out of her apartment, told her few friends that she was leaving town for good, and left me a note that she didn't want me to look for her. And she covered her tracks like a pro. Gone. Do you have any scotch?" Grabbing a bottle from the non-concealed area of the wet bar, Josef brought it and a glass of ice and placed them on the desk in front of Mick. Pouring himself a full glass, Mick gulped down the first few mouthfuls, hoping it would help ease the remorse. "I'm not sure what happened. We had a romantic dinner in the park, watched the sunset… all her idea. She's even a great cook. Then she kissed me and I couldn't help myself… I kissed her back. I walked her home and she came onto me, asking me to spend the night with her, and she looked so beautiful that I wanted to… But she knows the cure is only temporary, and when it wears off… there was no way we could go back if we crossed that line. I tried to get her to see reason, Josef."

Josef looked sternly at Mick for a few moments, deciding against several choice sarcastic remarks. "So you humiliated her instead? Did you ever think that maybe she doesn't want to go back once you're all vamp again."

Now Mick was angry. "I didn't humiliate her! I tried to tell her that it was for her own safety. She doesn't understand what could happen to her once the bloodlust comes back. What happens when this wears off? I could kill her if we were intimate, Josef."

"So let me get this straight. You refused her when you were a vamp because of safety concerns, and then again when you were a human and technically much less likely to kill her during the hot-and-sweaty-screaming-each-others-name-part. You only drank from her once, and then only because you were dying, and I'm willing to bet that you repaid the favor by acting as if you derived no pleasure at all from her blood. Knowing you, you probably didn't enjoy it because you were too busy feeling guilty about biting her freely-offered wrist. She knew you were a vamp, Mick, and it sounds like it did nothing to dissuade her. So then last night you made sure she understood that you didn't want her as a vamp or a human, even when she made it clear that she wanted to get up close and personal with you either way. You refuse to turn her, which could have solved your concern for her safety in the bedroom and most everywhere else, in addition to ensuring she'd have a deep bond with you that it seemed like she wanted. Sounds like humiliation to me, though I admit to not being on the receiving end of such a rebuff for centuries." Josef waited for Mick to process all of that through his alcoholic haze.

Mick didn't think it was possible to feel any worse than he had when he walked in, but Josef changed his mind on that point. Beth hadn't just left because she was disappointed or upset. _How do you deal with losing a man that wanted you more than anything, only to being refused by a man you want that desperately?_ "You're right. On all of it."

Josef had been prepared to start arguing the point further, and was a little bit stunned he didn't have to. Before he was turned Mick must have been more passive, Josef decided. Coraline obviously got more than she bargained for in the change, but Josef knew he could use it to his advantage, and Sara's. "So what are you going to do now? Hopefully not sit there and mope for hours- I have work to do."

Struggling to find enough balance left to get to across the room, Mick said, "I'm going to look for Beth and apologize."

"And say what, Mick? You've burned all but one bridge. The woman you should be looking for is Coraline, because your only way out is to get enough of this 'cure' to convince Beth that you'll be human from then on, so you can stop using your undead state as an excuse to push away a woman that obviously loves you very much. I had that love once, with Sara, and trust me when I tell you that you're a fool for giving it up so easily."

Mick just nodded his head and wondered if humans really could die from a broken heart, as it seemed he was going to test that tonight. Josef wrote down a name and phone number for Mick of a vamp in New York that might know of Lance' whereabouts, or where he might have taken Coraline. He put the paper in Mick's hands and said, "Jesus, Mick. My secretary outside has some coffee. Get sobered up, take a shower, and call this vamp tomorrow night. He might be able to help you find Coraline, but don't wait too long. You're going to need to find her and more of that compound before Beth finds someone who will accept her advances."

_Harsh, but necessary, on all accounts. Success will always elude the unmotivated, but Mick is now properly motivated. _As Mick stumbled out the door,Josef sat back down at opened the book where he'd left off, trusting that he'd have Sara back in his arms in half the time with both of them working on his problem.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

11:30 pm

"Ma'am? We're closing."

Beth couldn't believe a place that served coffee could close so early, but then she noticed that it was really was much later than she had thought. She muttered a quick apology, closed her laptop, and hurried to meet Logan. While walking across the street to his apartment, she downed another pain pill and tried to mentally prepare herself for her third vampire bite since she threw Mick out of her apartment. _I can't believe that was just last night. _ She sighed and pulled Mick's jacket closer around her to ward off the chill from the night air, feeling somehow comforted by the smell of him the jacket carried. She hoped Logan would know how to keep the bite from being completely unpleasant, though she seriously doubted that it would be anything like Josef's. _I guess it helps that I'm attracted to Josef. _A small tingle ran through her at the thought, as she again wondered about what sex with Josef must be like if just his bite is that good. Sex never used to be the most important part of her relationships… it used to be the intimacy and the connection with the other person. _When did sex move to the top of the list? Maybe when I found out I didn't have time left to wait on the other parts._

She was snapped out of her reverie by the door of Logan's apartment opening and the sound of Mick's voice. "Thanks again Logan. Call me when you have something."

_Damn. Why does Mick have to have the same nerd I do? Couldn't he get his own?_ She ducked behind the corner of the building and hoped Mick wasn't vamp enough yet to notice her. Fortunately, he walked right to his car and did not appear to have caught her scent, and she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

Logan looked apprehensive when she walked through the door, but he kept his eyes on his computer screen and didn't seem to want to look at her. "Mick's looking for you," and after a quick sniff of the air, "or at least his jacket. You haven't been using your credit cards, which is good, or he'd be on to you by now. Our agreement did not include protection of the whereabouts of Beth Turner, Buzzwire reporter, only the new identity." He pushed a folder across the desk towards her. Inside was a complete set of documents: driver's license, birth certificate, high school and college diplomas, passport, credit history, employment history. Beth was impressed. These were the real deal. She reached in her bag for the envelope of 75 $100 bills and pushed it back across the desk to Logan, then stood up and took off Mick's jacket to bare her wrist in anticipation of Logan's bite.

Logan actually looked startled and finally met her gaze. "Not that I don't appreciate tips, but the fee has been taken care of. And now, I want out of the middle of whatever little love triangle you three have going. I don't think either Mick or Mr. Kostan will kill me because they need my services, but they could still hurt me enough that I'll really regret my decision to help you. And as much as I'd like to, I won't feed from you and get any deeper into this mess than I am now. Put Mick's jacket back on and go." He seemed disappointed, but Beth was relieved.

"I have the money if you are willing to provide me with some additional information. I'm looking for information on a few people."

"Popular request tonight." Logan leaned back in his chair, waiting.

Beth took a list with six names on it and handed it to Logan. "I need to know if any of these people are vampires, and aliases they may have had in the past. You do have some sort of vamp team roster, don't you?"

Logan looked at the names only after a stern stare over her last question. "None of them ring a bell, but I can look into it for you. However, I am going to need Mr. Kostan's permission on this… I can't just go handing out this kind vamp info to a human for personal use. However, if your master approves, I can probably have something for you tomorrow." Logan's casual attitude about this concept irked her.

Beth opened her mouth to protest the idea that Josef was her "master" then quickly closed it. She had given permission, no, practically begged Josef to mark her last night and this apparently made her his property in the eyes of other vampires. If circumstances had been different, she would have stormed over to confront Josef and make sure he understood she was owned by no one, but everything was different now. The rules had changed when she decided to play in the vamp world rather than the human one. Beth had to wonder if Josef might actually have some sort of real power over her, given that his predatory gaze made her want to go to him, instead of run like a human should.

A quick phone call to Josef and Logan had his approval. "Give me a number where I can reach you and I'll call you when I have something."

Since Logan was working for Mick also, she was thinking that giving out her new cell number was not a good idea. Obviously he had said something to Josef about her covert request, and she didn't know he wouldn't just hand the number over to Mick. She was so not ready to talk to him. "Just call Jos… Mr. Kostan with what you have. It's really for him anyway." She put Mick's jacket back on and started for the door before she realized they had not set a price on the new information. "How much do I owe you for this?"

Now Logan looked insulted. "It's all taken care of, Miss Elizabeth Myles from Portland. Go enjoy your new life."

_What's left of it. _

She had just gotten back to her car when her cell rang. The first fake ID had not only ensured her access to Coraline's safe deposit box, it had given her a new cell phone with more pre-paid minutes than she'd have time to use. If Mick tracked down the name and number, she had a second fake ID to use for a replacement. Beth flipped it open and said, "Yes?"

Josef's voice was cool and collected as usual, but it reminded her of the intimate feel of his breath on her neck and his whispers in her ear last night. "I think I have something for you if you are done trying to seduce poor Logan with promises of your blood. May I send a car to pick you up or have you secured alternate transportation?" _Damn him and his little errand boy too, _but there wasn't much use in trying to deny it. Logan was serious about the property thing and it left Beth wondering if Josef was too.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes," she said and hung up, hoping he'd let that little cost-cutting measure she had negotiated with Logan slide. It's not like Josef had really taken the time to explain it all before he sank his fangs into her neck. Maybe she hadn't been interested in the explanation part.

Before Beth could ring the doorbell to Josef's mansion, the door was opened by a well-dressed man who looked like he had stepped out of a spy movie. The gun he had in a shoulder holster inside of his perfectly-tailored jacket convinced her that either Josef needed a hit man for a butler, or this really wasn't the butler, but at this point it really didn't matter. The man stepped back and gracefully motioned for her to enter. "Please come in. Mr. Kostan has been anticipating your arrival. May I take your coat?"

Hesitating for a moment, she finally nodded and handed Mick's jacket over. She followed him to the private elevator she had taken earlier, hoping she would get to see more of the mansion Josef called home, but all the lights were off except for the ones leading to their destination. She did manage a glimpse at a large lighted pool and hot tub that seemed to be unoccupied. Strange, Beth thought, because Mick had told her several times about all the beautiful young women Josef always kept around.

She arrived at the same suite of rooms they had been in before, but Josef was nowhere to be seen. James Bond indicated she could take a seat. "Mr. Kostan was delayed, thought he expects to be with you shortly. May I get you anything? A beverage, or something to eat perhaps?" Apparently he had heard her stomach growling.

"A glass of red wine would be nice. And some fresh fruit, if it isn't too much trouble." He bowed and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. While she waited, she thought she heard the faint sound of the shower running. "Great, I get to wait here while he finishes up his meal and who knows what else in there," Beth murmured. She sat down in one of the more comfortable leather wing-backed chairs and rested her head against the side, closing her eyes for a moment. While she thought this would help her organize her thoughts, she was asleep before she knew it.

Beth was resting her head against Mick's chest, with his arms encircling her gently. They were in his living room, and for some reason Mick was not wearing his shirt. His hair was damp and he smelled both of soap and of that underlying masculine scent that was just him. The same scent that lingered on his jacket and made her feel safe. Mick was gently rubbing her back with one hand while he ran fingers of his other hand slowly through her hair and then to her face and downwards to brush their calloused surface against her lips. She looked up at him and he lowered his head, lightly pressing his lips against hers, and she deepened the kiss. After a few moments he broke the contact, causing her to moan in frustration before he continued on to her ear and lower towards her neck. His warm mouth on the sensitive skin on the side of her neck made her shudder while she silently willed him to bite, moving her head back to fully expose the area. He bent down and picked her up like a bride being carried across the threshold, held tightly against him while he walked.

"Where are we going?" she asked in a whisper.

"To my bed," was the response, though he sounded a little strange when he said it.

"Mmmm. I thought you'd never ask." Beth felt light as a feather as she relaxed into his grasp and rested her head up against his shoulder again.

"Well, well, Miss Turner. If I'd known that my mark would affect you in this way, I would have bitten you much, much sooner." Josef sounded quite pleased with himself.

Beth's eyes snapped open. She suddenly realized it was Josef carrying her and she was suddenly wide awake. "Oh my god. Did I say that out loud?"

Josef looked both satisfied and quite amused. "I believe you did. I'm hoping that doesn't change your attitude on the destination?" By now they had reached his oversized bed. He leaned forward slightly and pulled back the covers, and laid her down between the sheets. Beth was initially too embarrassed to say anything, but then she was too distracted by Josef's bare chest in front of her as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. His skin was still slightly damp from the shower, and he smelled of some exotic cologne. Beth's eyes lingered over the taut muscles of his chest and down his abdomen, and she realized that he was wearing nothing but a towel on his lower half.

His fingertips were tracing light circles over the bite marks on her wrist. "Beth, you need some rest and something to eat. While this new obsession of yours seems to eclipse everything else in your life, be reassured that Sara has been as she is for more than fifty years. She will still be there for you to save tomorrow, after you have slept and eaten." His eyes roamed over her body while he talked, but his fingers continued to tease her wrist.

Beth had a hard time forming coherent thoughts, because what she wanted most now was the feel of his weight on top of her, pressing her into the bed while he took her body and her blood. She was tired of dreaming about Mick and tired of wanting a man that wasn't ready to be loved. She didn't have time to wait for him to figure out what he wanted, while Josef seemed not the least bit indecisive.

Beth thought about offering Josef her wrist, but she wanted to feel him feeding at her neck again. She sat up and placed one hand on his arm, the other she ran through his hair and behind his head as she bared the perfect, unblemished side of her neck for him as she said, "speaking of eating, would you prefer to go straight for the main course, or are there some appetizers you would like to try first?"

Josef did not fail to recognize the desire in her. Normally, he would never think of denying such an eager and beautiful young woman, but Beth was not one of his hired donors. He made a habit of not being bothered with morals and scruples, but this involved another vamp. One who would still consider Beth to be his and would not take kindly to his best friend sleeping with said woman. Mick also had considerable experience at killing vamps, a fact not to be overlooked in light of his relatively young age. It was hard enough to hope that Mick would forgive him the mark, but sleeping with the woman who had obsessed him for years was something else entirely.

Josef removed the hand from his arm and kissed the back of it, letting his inner vampire show. "Ladies should always come first," he said with a grin that revealed his fangs. Pushing the hunger back down and resuming his human visage, he picked up a ripe strawberry from the tray on the bedside table, swirled it around in sweetened whipped cream and held it out for her. Beth tried to look disappointed, but if vampires could make their food into foreplay, she was betting she could also. She reached out with her tongue and licked the whipped cream off while looking at Josef, then took a bite out of it, letting the red juice run down her chin for his benefit.

_Damn you're making this difficult,_ Josef thought. He again pushed the hunger back down and tried to stay focused on not ripping off her clothes and taking her right then. "So, before I do something with you that will cause Mick to cut my head off or fill me full of silver bullets _after_ he stakes me through the heart for marking you, let's talk business and then you can sleep."

Beth had trouble hiding her disappointment, but then again, she really didn't try that hard. "Fine." It was why she had originally come here after all. "But I'm staying here while we talk." She propped herself up on one elbow facing him and waited. "Would you care to be the gentleman and fetch my laptop while I eat?"

_She's toying with me, and she knows it._ He had the laptop back to her in a blink of an eye, and while it was starting up he went to put on some clothes, find the notes he had made earlier and retrieve a flask of fresh blood that he had brought up with him before the shower. _Maybe the presence of more clothes and quite a lot of AB negative will help me keep my mind from wandering_. After downing two glasses he filled it a third time and returned to the bed, sitting down next to her so he could see the screen also. He smiled at Beth and said, "I am going to have to have more business meetings in this room, though I think I will need more delicious young women business partners such as yourself if it is going to be worthwhile." He sipped from his glass as he watched the blood flowing just under the skin of her neck.

Pleased at her ability to distract him, Beth began to relate what she had found in Coraline's flash drive. "The formula calls for a plant that has been extinct for over a hundred years, a variety of orchid called the 'Night's blood'. Appropriate, don't you think? She tried genetically engineering it by using a similar species, but apparently in testing it was not successful. The other ingredients seemed pretty routine, except that the flowers of the plant have to be mixed with some precision in a base of a few other easily obtainable plant extracts and AO negative blood was thought to be the best binder. Odd, because that is my type, and Coraline's. Mick said he thought that Coraline may have had other plans for me when she took me as a child, even if the 'kidnap a family' plan didn't work out, and this may have been it. Coraline might have had something to do with the manufacture before she was turned, I don't know."

Josef looked pensive for a moment. "The diary said much the same, though they did not have the names we use now for blood types. At that time, blood type was largely described by the subtleties of taste, just as fine wine is now, and the description was similar to the taste of your blood. The diary hints at several crucial growing techniques for the orchid in question, though it is never actually defined as an orchid in here. There's the possibility that it may have been another type of flower altogether. Apparently it's important for that plant to be grown in soil enriched with some sort of paste made out of bone meal, which if I understand correctly is a common additive today, although not necessarily in that form."

"Yes, and Coraline was using it in her attempts, but it just never seemed to all come together in the right way. She didn't know why things were going wrong, and at the last entry she said something about trying to find the author of the diary." Beth paused to grab a small bunch of grapes from the tray. "But if she could have found the vamp who wrote that diary and gotten them to give up their secrets easily, she would have done that first instead of trying to do it on her own."

"I've known Coraline for a very long time, and she does tend to do everything the hard way." Josef put his notes on top of her bag. "Here's the literal translation of the important sections."

Beth tucked them inside. "I found a few names of longstanding orchid-growing businesses and their owners. Logan is checking them out to see if any are vamps. I also have a lead on a lab that has a silver-chelating agent in research trials, and I'm betting that someone there is interested in the vamp applications, since there are really very few cases of human silver poisoning these days." Beth closed the laptop and put it back in the bag, setting in on the floor before retrieving the glass of wine she had been sipping earlier.

Josef couldn't resist chiding her about Logan. "Did you offer Logan your blood as payment again, or did you just decide you had free reign with my money? You know, I may just have to keep that diary as compensation. There were quite a few other recipes useful to vamps… how to speed donor's blood regeneration, various concoctions to give humans to flavor their blood differently. I think now I'll have to build a greenhouse and hire a very discreet gardener."

Beth feigned insult. "And here I thought my blood was flavorful enough on its own. And as for your tab, Logan wouldn't take my blood or the cash I offered him… something about you being my 'master' and he wasn't ready to incur your wrath by stealing."

Leaning down to whisper in her ear, Josef said, "I did tell you that your blood was mine. You didn't seem bothered by that in the car at all." He pulled back and planted a quick kiss over the bite mark he had made. Even though he had not set out to take Beth away from Mick and claim her as his own, he did enjoy a small sense of victory at having done so. Also enjoyable was the small shudder of pleasure that went through her when reminded of his last feeding. Trying to contain his desire to add another bite to her neck, he finished the rest of the blood in his glass and set it aside.

After setting her own glass down, Beth sat up to look him in the face while running her hand down the middle of his chest. "Bothered? Definitely not. In fact, I was thinking that was only the appetizer course," she said as she mimicked his earlier teasing by stroking the perfect, untouched side of her neck, right over the pulse. "And it is true, you won't need to ask permission to have a bite to eat." Her breathing and pulse had increased, Josef noted, and her blood called to him.

Even though he already knew the answer to the question, he wanted to hear her say it. "Is it simply the bite you crave or is there something more you want?" He gently pushed her back onto the blood-red sheets and leaned forward, his hand moving slowly from her wrist, up the inner part of her arm and brushing against her breast. "You have been warned about the dangers of such physical pleasures, have you not? Yet here you are in my bed, tempting me. Miss Turner, are you trying to seduce me?"

"I had hoped to be well past the trying by now. I want you, all of you. I want you to show me what I've been missing, Josef." With his left hand braced on the mattress to the side of her head, his right hand slowly slid up to her face.

"As my lady commands," Josef said. _I would never be doing this if I were a decent person. Good thing I'm not. _Beth took advantage of the proximity of his hand to gently kiss his wrist, before placing a firm bite on the inside of it-- not hard enough to break the skin, but enough to let him know she was serious about having him. The sudden and unexpected feel of her teeth there coupled with the smell of her desire snapped his control and his mouth descended on hers a second later, demanding entrance and receiving it. After exploring her mouth thoroughly and completely, he moved down to her neck, teasing her sensitive skin with gentle nips of his teeth on her earlobe and down to her collarbone. The moans that escaped from her lips made him harder and less content to wait.

Beth's hands moved to undo the buttons on his shirt, but Josef pulled it open and let the buttons go flying. As he pulled the shirt off of his arms and threw it on the floor, she let her hands roam over his chest so she could feel every muscled detail. Somehow the idea that he could kill her with barely a flick of his wrist didn't scare her like it should have. It made her crave his touch more.

She alternated licks of her tongue on his chest with small bites and it was Josef's turn to moan. "God, Beth, you make love like a vamp instead of a human." He pulled her up easily to him so they were both kneeling on the bed while he claimed her mouth again. He pulled her shirt up and over her head and carelessly tossed it aside to join his on the floor, followed quickly by her bra, and he pulled her tightly against him. Beth loved the feel of so much of their bare skin touching while his arms encircled her, and clearly Josef was enjoying it too because she could feel his growing hardness against her. She reached down to touch him through the thin material of his pants and her breathing quickened in anticipation of the pleasure to come.

Josef held her hand up against him and whispered in her ear, "no biting there, ok?"

She just smiled and agreed, "fine, but I do want _your_ bite somewhere tonight…though location is entirely up to you."

"Don't worry, I know what you need. You'll feel my fangs in your neck and your blood flowing into my mouth soon enough. But not yet." Josef's hands slid down her arms to rest lightly over her wrists while he kissed her. Then he closed his fingers and pushed her back against the sheets, pinning her wrists to the bed. Seeing her willing body stretched back against the blood red satin, her blood just there under the skin was almost too much for him. If he hadn't just satisfied so much of his hunger earlier he probably would have drained her dry right there.

Josef's eyes flashed light blue and his eyes drank in the sight of her body while she was helpless before him. Beth loved that she could make the inner vampire come out to play, that she had made him want her that much. While never releasing his pressure on her wrists Josef's head descended to her breasts, sucking on her nipples gently at first, then with more pressure. He let her feel his fangs rub lightly across the now hard peaks while she writhed underneath him, trying to get more contact between their lower bodies. While Josef knew she had no true desire to escape from his grasp, the feel of her body struggling against him excited him more. He tugged at her nipples with his teeth, careful to avoid puncturing the skin, enjoying the taste and feel of her while she cried out his name.

Beth thought she might come just from the pressure of his mouth on her breasts, and the thought that she couldn't move or get away (not that she wanted to) just heightened the sensations. Josef finally let go of her wrists so he could rid her of her remaining clothes. Finally able to see all of her lying naked and willing in his bed, Josef couldn't help but tell her how beautiful she was. _Mick is a fool for letting her go._

Beth had tried to sit up to undo the top button of his pants, but he gently pushed her back down. She laid back and watched him slowly crawl up her body, his face showing his hunger for her blood, but also for her flesh. Reminding her for a moment of how good his mouth felt on her breasts, Josef's fingers found her wetness and teased her most sensitive areas, careful to keep her on the edge but never giving her quite enough pressure or speed. Beth felt his head move lower, trailing a line of wet kisses down her stomach to join his fingers, which he slowly slid inside of her. First one, then two, then three fingers stretched her wide open while his tongue traced firm circles that brought her so close to the edge.

"Please, Josef… please." So overwhelmed with the feel of his mouth and hands, she couldn't even figure out what it was that she wanted, but she was sure she wanted it now. His fingers slid in and out faster and curled upwards while his mouth continued its pressure. Beth's body bowed back up off the bed and stars exploded in her vision. She forgot completely how to breathe while the pleasure was so intense, but when it finally began to fade she collapsed back and tried to get enough air.

Josef had enjoyed making her come so hard. As he sat back to remove the last article of his clothing, he found Beth watching like she wanted to come to him but didn't yet have the necessary control of her muscles. He made sure he took just a little longer than necessary to finish disrobing, and ran his hands down his flat stomach for her benefit. Josef was a man who knew that women found him impressive, especially this woman, and he had full confidence in his skills. _Four hundred years of practice has not been wasted_. Returning to her side he let her have a few more minutes to recover from the most intense orgasm she'd ever had. His fingertips trailed over her breasts, her navel, and down to the insides of her thighs, trying to reawaken her desire.

Finally Beth felt like she could process coherent thoughts, as long as those thoughts were of Josef and what else he was going to do to her. "That was amazing, Josef." She smiled at him weakly, still trying to convince her muscles to move when he touched her where his mouth had been a short time ago.

He lightly kissed and licked the side of her neck. "There's better to come. I haven't even fed from you yet." A small whimper of frustration escaped her lips as his fingers continued to caress her, but finally she was able to turn on her side and feel his hard length against her. She stroked him and felt him shudder at her touch, which made her bolder with her hands and with her teeth against his nipples, all the way up to the side of his neck. Beth had never felt so powerful and so desirable as she did in bed with this four hundred year old vampire who was used to having beautiful women as his beckon call. But right now, it was her touch he wanted, her blood that he watched pulse under her skin. She pressed against his shoulder and was surprised that he gave in and turned to lie on his back given his apparent enjoyment of being the one in control and holding her down just a short time ago.

Josef pulled a second pillow under his head so he could watch as Beth's hand closed around him and began a slow rhythm. She kissed her way down from his neck to his chest and abdomen, alternating with small bites that tested his control. Finally her head moved lower and the warm wetness of her mouth coupled with the desire he saw in her almost pushed him over the edge after only a few moments. He felt his eyes go pale and his fangs lengthen while his hands guided her up to straddle his body. Beth needed no further direction and slowly sank down onto him, trying to adjust to his size before beginning a slow rhythm. She let him see just how much pleasure she was feeling at that moment, and threw her head back with the overwhelming sensation of him buried inside of her.

Needing no more invitation that that, Josef put his hands on her hips and began to guide himself deeper into her, gradually increasing the speed. He saw the small changes in her breathing that meant she was close, so he sat up and wrapped his arms around her; one lower to keep control of the pace, the other up to her head to pull it gently to the side and slightly back, leaving her neck vulnerable to his teeth, but also to ensure that she couldn't instinctively pull back from his bite while he fed.

The change in angle brought sharper pressure against her body, making Beth cry out with pleasure at each thrust. She let go of all conscious thought when his arms encircled her and held her firmly against him, and she felt only the building pressure of another orgasm. Beth felt safe in his arms, even though she knew his fangs were out and he would soon sink them into her neck. At that point, she didn't care if he drained her, because all she knew at that moment was how good his body felt and how much she wanted him.

He felt her surrender herself to him, offering her body and blood to him unconditionally, and after a few more thrusts, Josef let his instincts take over. He pierced her neck with his fangs and felt the hot blood pour into his mouth as he brought them both over the edge. He held her tightly while he both emptied himself inside of her and fed on the sweet blood that tasted of sex and her lust, Beth holding his head against her neck as she came and crying out for him not to stop. He continued to feed until he felt the telltale signs in her body that meant he could not take more without risking damage. Slowly his fangs retracted and he licked the two small wounds on her neck until they stopped bleeding. Beth had collapsed against him as he expected when he was done, but her heartbeat was strong and her breathing regular, so he knew he had not taken too much.

Josef laid her back against the soft pillows and covered them both with the satin comforter, stroking her cheek lightly as her body slipped into a peaceful, natural sleep. He found himself wondering why he deserved to have such an intelligent and beautiful woman here with him when he clearly didn't deserve her, and why she would want to help reunite him with someone who would likely try to keep her out his bed in the future.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

7 p.m. the following night

Beth awoke to the feel of Josef's kiss on the inside of her wrist. Her eyes fluttered open as the pleasant memories of last night's activities came back to her, making her wish she could spend a little more time with him before she had to leave. The light from the nearby lamp seemed to burn her eyes and make her head suddenly pound, while at the same time she felt somewhat sick to her stomach. Not one to stand in the way of the beautiful woman who was now trying to push him out of his own bed, he stood up to let her by but Beth didn't make it three steps before she passed out. 

Josef was there to catch her, and he carried her back to bed. He didn't think he had taken enough blood from her to cause this kind of reaction, but then again his freshies knew to get up slowly after such a feeding. Josef had forgotten that Beth was new to vampire-induced blood loss and hadn't yet learned those lessons. If she was going to be going to have regrets about last night, he reasoned that she would likely be even angrier if she had to talk to him while she was still nude, so he covered her back up. Beth tried to open her eyes once more, but Josef held his hand over her upper chest to keep her from trying that dash out of bed a second time. "Shhhh, Beth, you passed out. I must have taken more blood last night than I realized, so you need to go more slowly." 

She kept her eyes closed and looked somewhat distressed. "Josef, please let go." He complied only because she seemed willing to stay put. "Please get my bag... there's a bottle of pills in the outside pocket. I need two of them and some water." 

He had no trouble finding them and was not surprised that they were the morphine pills he had tasted in her blood. What he was surprised to find was at least $75,000 in cash in the same pocket. Making a mental note to ask her about that later, he put the two pills into her hand and poured her a glass of water. Josef held her up to take the medication then carefully laid her back down. "Can you turn off the light please?" Beth asked him. 

As soon as it was dark she was able to open her eyes. As her night vision wasn't nearly as good as Josef's, Beth couldn't see the look of worry on his face though he could see her discomfort. "Do you want me to go?" he asked. 

"No, of course I don't want you to go. Do you have time to stay for a little while? I mean, it's ok if you have to work or something." Beth knew that being in his bed for one night gave her no rights to dictate what he did and when. 

Josef sat down next to her and took her hand between his, but for the first time since he marked her, he didn't try to tease the skin where he had bitten her. The pieces were starting to come together for him now… why Beth was here with him instead of Mick and why she was on this crusade to help Sara. Logan had told him Beth had cashed in all of her assets, which he had initially attributed to her wanting a new identity so she could run from Mick. But now Josef understood the pain medicine, quitting her job, giving up her apartment and most of her belongings, literally cashing in all of her assets, and her apparent willingness to pay Logan a large portion of that money for information to help Sara. She could have just told Mick to leave her alone permanently, and he would have if done so if she were insistent. There was no need for her to give up everything here and run from him in this fashion. He wouldn't be in her life if he knew for sure she didn't want him there… he might go back to stalking her some, but she wouldn't know he was there. Someone who expected to live did not cash in their retirement money to help someone they had only met once, and even then while that person was in a coma. Someone who expected to die, however, could very well do just that, and other things that they would have considered unthinkable a short time before. Beth had never shown any interest in him until a short time ago, and Josef had thought it was just her way of revenge against the vamp that had turned her down. Now he thought it was more than that. 

He bent down and kissed Beth's forehead. "I'm already done with work for the day, while you've been sleeping." 

Beth looked confused for a minute. "What time is it?"

"Nearly seven in the evening. You've been asleep for about 15 hours." 

_No wonder my head hurts so much, that's too long in between doses of medicine. _"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep that long. Once my head quits hurting I'll be out of your way." 

Josef sighed, then asked, "how long do you have, Beth?"

She was rubbing a spot on her left temple with her free hand. "Maybe another fifteen or twenty minutes. Those pills work pretty fast." 

"I didn't mean for the medicine. How long do you have? Weeks? Months?"

She pulled her hand away from where he had been holding it. It took her maybe twenty seconds, but that mask of indifference she had worn in his office slid back into place before she answered him. "Three months, maybe less. No, Mick has no idea, and it should stay that way." 

Josef looked at her young face and now he understood why she held that resignation in her eyes, and it was a look that should never have been necessary. "Mick loves you, Beth, and while he has a terrible way of showing it, I know he's not ready to lose you. He could turn you and…" 

"He won't," Beth interrupted but her voice held no emotion. "He won't turn me." 

"You told me he didn't know. If he knew, he would want to turn you." Josef tried to sound convincing. _He'll turn her or I'll kill him myself. If he lets her die like this, I'll make sure he gets the death that he's been looking for since Coraline turned him. _Josef knew that Mick had no desire to turn anyone, but he hoped Mick wasn't capable of sitting idle knowing Beth would die if he did nothing. 

"It's nice of you to think that of him since he's your friend, but I asked him not too long ago, right after Josh died. The biopsy results weren't back yet, but I already knew when I sat there watching Josh fade away that I'd be following him shortly. The next night I asked Mick if it had been me bleeding to death in front of him there in the park, would he have turned me, or would he have let me die too." Beth paused and tried to push down the lump in her throat. "He said he would have let me die, Josef, rather than making me into a monster like he is." 

"God, I'm sorry. I had no idea. I'll beat some sense into him on this." _I should never have let Mick get this bad. He's worse now then when he thought he had killed Coraline. _Josef crawled into bed behind Beth and held her close while they sat in silence. 

"Beth, I promise you that I will not say no if you ask me to turn you. I think you'd take to being a vamp quite easily." _And you could stay with me. _

She turned over and placed a platonic kiss on his cheek. "I'm flattered, and I doubt you extend that offer to very many humans, but I can't and won't ask that of you." 

Now Josef was confused. "I thought you just said… why not?" 

Beth sat up and faced away from him. "Because I'm still in love with Mick", she said quietly, almost to herself though she knew he could hear her. Then she stood slowly and headed for the door to the bathroom, closing it behind her. 

Not that he expected Beth to just fall in love with him after one night together and stop thinking about Mick, but she was turning down his offer of eternal life for someone who told her he preferred to let her die? Josef decided to call for some food to be sent up for her while he tried to figure out how to convince Beth to accept his offer or to make Mick see reason. Really, it was fine if she still loved Mick because being in love with your sire wasn't necessary, and after a short time of training, she could go back to Mick. Josef heard her step into the shower and took the opportunity to send her keys with one of his staff to see if she had any clean clothes in her car. 

Five minutes later the food and a suitcase arrived back to the suite. He'd already gone through her things and picked out a well worn pair of jeans and a comfortable cotton shirt. Disappointed that she didn't seem to have any exotic lingerie with her, he finally settled on a conservative looking set of underclothes and socks and set them on the bathroom counter with her clothes. He knew by her lack of reaction that she hadn't heard him enter, so he waited and watched her, trying to figure out why she would not accept his offer while at the same time trying to tell himself this was not the time to get in the shower with her and remind her why being a vampire was so much fun. 

When Beth turned off the water and opened the door, she saw Josef standing there with an oversized towel held out in front of him as if to wrap her in it. She tried to be angry with him in her mind, but decided it required less energy to just let him take care of her this once. The pain in her head had eased up a little, as had the dizziness, but she still felt weak and tired in spite of her long rest. Josef's arms encircled her with the towel and began to gently dry her with it. Wrapping it around her, he pulled her close and let her lean on him while he brushed out her hair, which Beth found pleasant but somehow strangely intimate at the same time. _After what we did last night, I really shouldn't consider this an invasion of my privacy. _

Josef saw her smile slightly and asked her what she was thinking about. As a vampire, he certainly didn't miss the slight blush of her cheeks when she answered. "Last night," Beth said quietly, but Josef wasn't sure if those were good memories or if he had somehow made her want to run from him as well. 

"Have no regrets, Beth. Josef said carefully. "And don't worry, if for no other reason than I'd like to keep my head attached to my shoulders, I won't tell Mick." _I'm not in a hurry to march to my own execution by taunting Mick with tales of my debauchery with his girlfriend. _ "Besides," he continued, "gentlemen never kiss and tell."He gave her a deep courtly bow before helping her dress and taking her by the arm to walk back into the bedroom. 

Beth couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "Please let me know when a gentleman arrives then, because you are anything but." 

Josef tried to look offended then just smiled. "Ah, you are right about that. I used to be, but I graduated to self-centered bastard and find the change to be to my liking." He led her over to a small table set up near the bay window that overlooked the ocean. Steaming roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and vegetables waited for her on one plate, with salad and fresh warm bread on another. A large glass of water and another of freshly squeezed orange juice were set to the side. Just to chide her about the gentleman comment, Josef held her chair for her and helped her sit before joining her on the other side of the table. 

Beth was hungry but still felt sick to her stomach. She sipped on the water and nibbled some on the bread while Josef watched her with a concerned look on his face for several silent minutes before saying, "there's a doctor I keep on retainer that knows about vamps and is very discreet. She'll come to the house right away if you want me to call her. Perhaps she could make you more comfortable and give you something for your stomach, because you won't exactly be able to walk into a doctor's office or an emergency room until those bites heal." 

Beth put down the bread and tried to eat a small bite of chicken. "Thanks, that would be nice. It would be good to get a new prescription for the pain pills too before I leave tonight." She set her fork down and went back to sipping the water. 

"Tonight? You could stay until morning, or longer if you need to… or until I change your mind about letting me turn you." 

"I appreciate the offer of your hospitality, and your blood. But I can't." Beth wished again that things had gone differently with Mick two nights ago. She might have been waking up in his arms tonight with a new hunger for human blood but knowing that she had centuries to spend with him. Now she just had her own personal crusade to help Sara wake up in the arms of the man she loved with those same centuries ahead. 

Josef hadn't ever been rejected by a human when he made that offer, and he was wondering if he was losing his touch. "I'm not following your reasoning on that. Maybe you could explain it to me? It's not like I would force you to stay with me once it was safe for you to go out on your own. Given what you already know, that could take as little as six months, which is the blink of an immortal's eye. I wouldn't keep you from going back to Mick, Beth. He's an idiot, but I know he loves you and you love him. He wouldn't have to worry about hurting you physically after the change, so he'd have no more feeble excuses. Mick's never turned anyone before but I could try to talk him into doing it himself, and I could be around to help you both if needed." 

Beth stopped trying to force herself to drink or eat and just set down the water and closed her eyes. "There are several problems with what you are saying, Josef, otherwise it would be a great plan that I would be happy to be a part of. One, you're in love with Sara, and she loves you back. I saw your face when you looked at her in New York. You've cared for her all this time with the hope that she would come back to you someday. Could you really keep her like she is now for another six months and not use the information we have to try to bring her back?" 

Josef tried to interrupt. "No, I guess not, but..." 

She cut him off. "I didn't think so. And I'm sorry that I violated her privacy, Josef, but I read her diary and I imagine that you have too. Sara sees her turning as a sort of marriage to you, a bond that will keep you together for eternity. No woman wants to wake up to find the brand-new husband she loves so dearly has had another woman in his bed and he's given her the same gift. While you may be the 'self-centered bastard' you claim to be now, Sara saw you as her knight in shining armor, her gentleman, and the love of her life. I want you to be all of those things for her Josef, and you can't do that if I'm there." 

Josef let out a breath he hadn't needed to hold. "You're right. But we can still talk to Mick and make him see the error of his ways. I'll mention how you are in a life-threatening situation and need of him to ride to your rescue again, because there's nothing he likes better." 

Beth stood up and walked slowly over to her suitcase to pack the clothes Josef had taken out. "I won't deny that Mick has saved my life on more than one occasion, and I really am grateful for that. But he won't save me this time because he hates what he is and he considers mortality to be preferable to eternity as one of the monsters. And he certainly wouldn't want to be the one responsible for granting me a fate worse than death." 

After a quick phone call to summon the doctor, Josef moved his chair next to hers. "Beth, he's just wrong about this, but he does love you. Besides, he's careful by nature—he won't let you be a monster. He won't let you run around L.A. terrorizing the human population, as enjoyable as that sounds." Josef squeezed her hand to try and reassure her. _I've seen the look on Mick's face when he talks about her, how upset he was when he knew she had left him. If he truly loves her, he'll be willing to sell the rest of his soul to the devil that already owns half. _

Beth finished packing and set the suitcase by the door before getting out her laptop and trying to make herself look busy so they wouldn't have to discuss this anymore. She looked pleased that Logan had sent her email about her list, confirming that one of the names on her list was a vampire, with two others that he was still researching. Josef let her indulge in the distraction for almost fifteen minutes while he considered how to proceed. 

"You know, if he won't turn you and you don't want me to do it, I do have several acquaintances that owe me favors. One is even a very decent person, which makes it odd that he would associate with me, but I know several vamps he sired and they all speak very highly of him. He has even passed on some rare and useful talents to his children. He would turn you if I asked."

She closed her eyes because she didn't want Josef to see her cry… she didn't want him to remember her that way. A few deep breaths and she felt calmer. "You're forgetting one thing, Josef. Even if he does love me as you say, which I doubt since you can't truly love someone when you hate yourself as much as Mick does, he won't love me if I become one of the monsters. Right now he's fascinated with me because I have what he can't… mortal life, and only that for a little while longer. If that's gone and I'm still walking and talking, it will change how he feels about me. And what happens if I actually like being a vampire and see my turning as a gift instead of a curse? What happens if I would rather be drinking fresh blood directly from humans instead of the blood he's looted from the Red Cross? What if I enjoy feeding on humans? What then? He'll hate me for it. It won't matter who turned me, he will still hate me. I don't want to start immortality alone like that, Josef, turned out by both of you."

"Damn. You have thought this through," Josef said. 

A sharp knock on the door was followed by the entrance of woman in her late fifties or early sixties with long brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a stethoscope around her neck and carrying a large duffel bag and what looked like a tackle box for fishing. In spite of her age, she was still very beautiful and her clothes were best described as professional with a feminine twist. 

Josef stood up to greet her with a quick kiss on the cheek. "Nice to see you as always, Alexandra. Thank you for coming so quickly." 

She smiled at him like she'd known him for years, and liked him in ways that were less than professional. "I have always come to you when you've called, haven't I?" She saw Beth sitting in the chair watching them with a confused expression. "Is this my patient, Josef?" 

He quickly turned his attention back to Beth. "Of course. Beth, this is Dr. Alexandra Schneider. Feel free to discuss anything you need to with Dr. Schneider, as she knows all about my dietary habits and life expectancy, and she takes care of the medical needs of all of my employees." 

The doctor couldn't help but smile. "How times have changed. Employees? You used to refer to us as your 'girls', Josef." 

He looked back at the doctor and winked at her on his way out the door. "They had to be upgraded once the damn women's movement took hold. Now take good care of Beth. She's not one of my 'girls', but rather a welcomed guest. Call me if you need anything Alexandra," and with that he was gone. 

An hour later Beth felt better than she had in a week. Josef had returned and sat with her while Alexandra removed the IV and packed up her things. 

"She's anemic and she won't accept a transfusion. If she's not one of yours, who does she belong to? I'll need to speak with them," the doctor asked him pointedly.

Josef thought of how to be diplomatic about it, but then gave up. "Beth used to unofficially belong to Mick St. John, but as of yesterday she's mine." 

With the stern air of command that Beth had always attributed to doctors, Alexandra said, "are all the bites yours, then? Or did St. John decide to go back to fresh blood?"

He shook his head no. "He's still on retail. The bites are mine, but I had fresh blood from three of my… employees… just before the last bite. I didn't take enough to cause this."

She seemed to accept his last answer and move on. "No, you didn't, but she was very dehydrated. I've fixed that, and the nausea. I gave her prescriptions for enough long and short acting morphine for a month, and enough medicine to prevent the nausea she'll have from taking so much of it. She would feel better if she had a transfusion, but she's adamant she doesn't want it, so I gave her a drug that will stimulate production of red blood cells. But it's your job to ensure that she gets the transfusion, Josef. I trust you have sufficient supplies on hand?"

"Of course. Thank you, Alexandra." 

"Anytime." Alexandra gathered her things and walked out, closing the door quietly behind her. 

Beth just looked annoyed. "You know, I was actually in the room for that conversation; you two didn't need to talk about me like I wasn't there. And why is it your job to make me do anything? My blood has to stay as it is unless you happen to have some AO negative sitting around in your refrigerator. It's my best bargaining chip for the cure and for bribing any vamps along the way, assuming your mark doesn't scare them away." 

Josef looked visibly pleased at her feistiness. "I do apologize, but Alexandra lived in the vamp world for many years, and she knows the rules. Donors are the responsibility of the vamps that keep them, so you are therefore my responsibility. But I understand about the transfusion." 

Seemingly satisfied with his answer, Beth picked up her bags and started for the door when she said, "I have to go. I have an appointment tomorrow night with the orchid expert that Logan thinks might be a vampire." Josef nodded and took the bags from her before she knew what had happened and led her downstairs to the garage. "I had your car parked inside because I didn't think you wanted Mick to know you were here if he came by," Josef informed her.

After seeing her things securely stowed in her trunk, he opened the back door and took Mick's jacket off of the hook, placing it around her shoulders. Beth turned to face him and allowed him to hold her for a moment while she rested her head on his chest. She kissed him softly on the lips and looked up. "Thank you, Josef, for everything. I'll call you when I have a lead." 

"Beth, you are always welcome here, even if you can't find a way to help Sara. The information you've given me so far will make it much easier for me to pursue this, and I do have the luxury of time. My offer still stands." He stroked his mark on her neck once before letting her go. 


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks to everyone who has submitted reviews. I really appreciate the feedback. -Laurelin

Chapter 10 

Four days later, 8 p.m., one hour west of Seattle

After two other greenhouses had turned Beth away with only advice to seek psychiatric help, she was starting to get a little discouraged. That is, until one of the employees at the last place she visited let drop the name of another business near Seattle that specialized in rare and unusual orchids. The young man had obviously been trying to help her and try to get her phone number at the same time, but his boss was not so pleasant and had threatened to call the police if she didn't leave. 

So, an eighteen hour drive later and she had finally found this isolated little orchid haven with five minutes to spare until she was to meet with the owner. Why anyone would set up greenhouses here near Seattle with all the clouds and rain was beyond her, but then again, she wasn't the one doing a tidy business in selling potted plants for hundreds or thousands of dollars each. Uncommon Blossom was a rather average-looking set of greenhouses arranged around a central building that looked as if it were a hybrid of a residence and a utilitarian office space. Two dogs came around from the back of the house when she got out of her car on the gravel driveway, but they were friendly enough and walked by her side while she looked for the owner. Beth didn't see anyone around the front of the place, so she rang the doorbell of the residence half.

The two dogs sat quietly next to her and waited. Several minutes went by and Beth was starting to get worried, but finally a plain-looking woman in her late thirties opened the door and began rubbing the dirt off her hands with an equally dirty rag at her belt. Beth expected the dogs to run into the house as soon as the door opened, but instead they loped out into the yard again as soon as the woman shooed them off the step. 

"Good evening. You must be Miss Myles. Very nice to meet you, I'm Camille." The voice was pleasant enough, but Beth couldn't help thinking this woman looked out of place here in the middle of proverbial nowhere. Something about the way she carried herself said "Jane Austen novel" and not "Starbucks". 

"Please, call me Liz," Beth said. 

"Do come in." Camille smiled and motioned for Beth to follow her as she walked into a living room furnished with an eclectic combination of antique and modern pieces, all of which in some way featured an image of an orchid. _A room only a botanist could love._ A stack of boxes, each completely covered in stickers saying "live plant" and "fragile" were set neatly in the doorway to the foyer. Several small plants without blooms were sitting in the windows, which she noticed from inside were hooked to a very advanced looking security system.

After Beth sat down in the offered plush chair, Camille brought out two large photo albums and set them on the table between them. "Thank you for meeting me so late in the evening," Camille began, "my days are usually quite busy tending the orchids and seeing to the business. Normally my sales are transacted only at shows, but it is my understanding that you are looking for a particularly rare variety?" Every so often Beth was able to catch a hint of an accent in Camille's speech, but nothing she could place definitively. 

"Yes. It's called 'Night's Blood'. Have you heard of it? I willing to pay quite well for it." Beth said.

Camille flinched and sat back, her demeanor becoming instantly defensive. _Bingo._ "No, I can't say that I have. I'm sorry I can't help you, but if there's anything else you'd be interested in, feel free to look through the albums here." 

Beth tried her best to look meek and apologetic. "I'm really sorry… I probably shouldn't have come. I admit that I know next to nothing about orchids, but it would mean the world to a friend of mine who had a terrible accident… and now she's in a kind of coma." She let Camille see some tears well up in her eyes. "She had wanted to find one of these orchids for months, and I hoped that if I could give her one it might help her wake up again, give her something to live for…"

"I'm sorry about your friend, but," Camille stood and tried to interrupt her, but Beth played the part of the distraught friend and let the whole story spill out before Camille could get a word in. 

"She and her fiancé had both been drinking one night, well, he started the drinking and she tried it for the first time a little later, and I don't know what happened, but she passed out and didn't wake up," Beth continued. "Now, her fiancé is _much_ older than she is and should have known better, but he was under some strange impression that it wasn't safe for him to take her to a hospital. She has to have blood transfusions all the time because she's so sick, they're the only thing keeping her from dying, and her fiancé blames himself because now they can't really be together forever if she's in a coma, and, and…" Now into full blown hysterics, Beth was grateful for her experience as president of the drama club in high school. _The best lies are always closest to the truth. _

Camille came over to where she was sitting with several tissues in hand, and just as Beth took them from her Camille pulled aside Beth's turtleneck and took a good look at the bite mark on the side of her neck. Then she stepped back, muttering something under her breath in French, but all Beth could pick out was "merde" several times. Finally, Camille looked at her and said in a heavier French accent that she had used originally, "you tell Lance or whichever member of his little 'family' you are working for, since that is not his mark on your neck, that I cannot and will not help him in this. Do you understand?" _Out with the meek gardener and in with the really pissed off vampire._

Trying to reassure her, Beth said, "I'm not working for Lance, I swear to you. His sister Coraline was trying to re-create the orchid and make the compound for..."

In a flash Camille was in front of her, grabbing Beth by the throat with a hand that was stronger than any human hand ought to be, her eyes flickering to light blue almost like a flame. _OK, you're a vampire, I get it._ The grip wasn't tight enough to cut off her breathing, but there was no way she was moving from that spot either. Beth consciously tried to give in and avoid fighting back physically, as doing so might be the only way to convince Camille she wasn't the first sign of a larger threat. "Coraline is a liar and a thief, if it is her bidding that you do, then I pity you. Before I decide whether or not to kill you, you will answer a few questions for me, understand?"

Unconcerned about the threat, Beth slipped easily back into the part of her mind that was still and calm, the place where she could feel death waiting for her. There was a certain freedom in knowing she was going to die either way, with only the manner and timing up for discussion. "I understand," was her curt answer but it held no malice, and no fear. 

Camille suddenly seemed to really see Beth for the first time and her voice gentled slightly. "What have you seen that you are not afraid? What have my kind done to you that I may close my hand around your throat and you remain indifferent?" 

"Nothing," was all Beth could manage to say. Anything more was simply too complicated. Though she hated to admit it to herself, Mick had been kind to her, as a child and since she had been re-introduced to him that fateful night she saw him lurking in the shadows of a murder scene. Their last evening together had gone much differently than she expected, but with a week's distance from that night, Beth understood that Mick's intention was to avoid hurting her in any way, even though the outcome was the opposite. 

Camille looked puzzled but released her hold. "Why are you here? Do you even know what you are asking of me?"

"Yes, I do," Beth replied. "and what I told you was true. My… master, tried to turn the woman he loved, but she never woke up. For over fifty years he has cared for her as she slept, hoping to bring her back at any cost. The compound made from the orchid might make her human again, and give him time to fix what went wrong, and if not he would welcome the chance for her live out her mortal life with him. I swear to you that I do not work for Lance, or Coraline, but I learned of the compound through Coraline's husband. Please, I need your help. I can pay." 

Camille held out her hand to Beth while the blue fire danced in her eyes. "Give me your wrist." 

Placing her wrist into Camille's hand, Beth offered up her blood. _This is becoming too much of a habit. Doesn't anyone take cash anymore?_

A fraction of a second later Camille was latched on to her wrist, and Beth had to consciously suppress the urge to pull away. The bite was sharp and stinging, not at all like the pleasure of Josef's bite, but not so painful after the initial breaking of the skin. Camille seemed to savor the few mouthfuls that she took, holding the blood in her mouth each time as Beth had seen done by aficionados of fine wine. The she pulled her mouth away slowly and licked the wounds several times, but she did not wait until the bleeding had stopped, nor did she release Beth's arm. 

Remaining motionless seemed like best option given the circumstances. "Listen carefully to me, Beth Turner of Los Angeles. Your blood tells me all I need to know of you and your master, and both of those you would aid with the Night's Blood. But realize it is a deadly poison to those of us who have known what it is to be a creature of the night, for we may never again fully accept the limitations mortal life brings. The woman, however, she may be able to live out her human life with your master since she has known no other existence. As for you, the gift of immortality would cheat Death though he draws ever closer now, but he is patient and he will wait. Night's Blood would swiftly clear his path to you if you choose to deny him now." She bent down and licked off the trickles of blood that had run down to her fingertips and onto the floor before stepping back and releasing Beth's arm. _Who else has been peeking into my mind while enjoying their meal?_

Camille was distracted for a moment, as if listening to something Beth could not hear. "I will help you but you must do exactly as I say." Beth could only nod her agreement, just as the dogs outside began barking frantically. "If you have gotten this far, you must know that your blood and more will be needed to make the final mixture, but the secret of that was never entrusted to me." 

A car door slammed just as Camille placed a new address label on one of the medium sized boxes by the door and thrust it into Beth's hands before gently pushing her through the now-open door. "Good night, my little one. See that your delivery arrives in good condition by noon tomorrow I might decide to keep you." 

Beth tried to look casual and even happy as she walked to her car, passing the two men walking up the sidewalk without meeting their eyes. The chill that went through her as she walked past them made her wish she had met with Camille during the day. Beth didn't need supernatural senses to know they were both powerful vamps; she could feel their eyes on her as she walked past. 

"Lance, and your little flunky too," Camille provided the distraction so Beth could get to her car without further scrutiny. "We had an agreement, or had you forgotten?" The dogs continued to growl at the two new arrivals but kept their distance. 

Lance was suddenly at the doorway with Camille, but his companion kept his eyes on Beth as if waiting for a signal. "Always a pleasure to see you too, Joséphine." Lance's voice sent shivers down Beth's spine. "I have decided to alter our agreement." 

The man sounded too sure of himself for Beth's comfort, and after all the driving she had done, she was never as grateful as she was now to be getting into her car. After the door was closed she could no longer hear the conversation, but a quick glance told her it wasn't getting any friendlier between the vampires. The second man watched Beth as she pulled out of the driveway, and she knew she'd have to get rid of her car at the next available opportunity. Personal attention from Lance his silent friend was not something Beth ever wanted to experience first hand, of that she was certain. For a moment she worried about Camille, or Joséphine, being left alone with those two, and then about how she would secure enough of the Night's Blood to provide a mortal lifetime of compound if something happened to the woman. Beth knew she wouldn't have enough time left to find a second source, if there even was such a thing. 

The sound of gunshots rang out into the night just as the car reached the main road, headed for I-82 and Salt Lake City. 

Beth knew she could no longer afford the luxury of looking back. 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

The trip to France had been almost a complete waste, Mick thought as he buckled his seat belt for the return flight home. The only lead he'd had, a vamp that Coraline had referred to as her 'tata' and the woman that had cared for her when she was a human child, was nowhere to be found. Coraline had said that Madame Marie de Ségur had lived at the Chateau Lafite-Rothschild vineyard in Bordeaux for centuries, steadfastly refusing to leave, in spite of multiple sales of the estate and even the German occupation, but Mick had received no help there. Two young employees had heard the name, but only from reading the history of the vineyard as published in the tourist brochure, and without an actual physical description or other alias for the woman he wasn't likely to get any further than that. Fire had claimed one of the oldest buildings merely two days before Mick's arrival, and the around the clock media presence made further investigation very difficult, even for a vampire. The acrid smell of the smoke that permeated the place seemed to mask all but the strongest scents, and while occasionally Mick picked up the characteristic smell of decay, none of it was recent enough to track.

Paris had been no more useful, especially since Mick spoke only a few words of French and had no way of endearing himself to the local vamp population. Even Josef had not been able to help him, since apparently most of the vamps he knew from Paris had long since moved on, as was prudent for their kind. The one business contact that Josef had directed him to was surprisingly quick to dismiss Mick's inquiry, almost as if he'd been warned not to give out any information. To top it off, after that meeting Mick had the constant sense that he was being followed, but whoever was doing the following was damn good and Mick was unable to shake them, or stake them for that matter.

So here he was, back to L.A. empty handed. No Coraline, no cure, and no Beth. Not since waking up to find out he'd been turned into a monster had Mick felt this bad, this… alone. He absent-mindedly played with the thick ring on his index finger and wondered what his life as a vampire might have been if he'd known ahead of time, understood the limitations, the hunger. If Coraline had told him, shown him, what being a vamp meant while he was still human, would he have seen it differently, or even desired it? Would he have shared Coraline's conviction that it was a gift to be free of mortality, but also a way to spend eternity with a woman he thought he was in love with then?

Beth's words kept echoing his mind from the night she sat crying in her apartment after Josh died, looking so vulnerable and… broken. Why did he tell her that letting her die was preferable to making her his child? He never should have handled it that way, he'd known that even as he said those things to her, repeating to her the lies that he'd told himself for years. He must have missed the "Miss Manners" lessons in vamp school that would have taught him what to say when the human you are in love with asks you to turn her mortal boyfriend. Mick shook his head. Those lessons must have been given on the same day as the ones that taught male vamps how to be as alluring and debonair as the ones in the romance novels and movies. No wonder Coraline had kept him home that day.

The twelve-hour flight found Mick's mind wandering back again and again to what Beth had said to him. "It can't be all that bad to live forever." Eternity alone was almost unbearable he'd told her, but she had simply suggested in her logical way that he stop being alone. He loved her ability to mix the practical and romantic, to reconcile the reality while still holding on to hope.

She had seen him kill humans and vamps, sure, but they had all been bad. Never had Beth seen him kill an innocent woman by ripping out her throat and draining her dry of blood because the hunger had overtaken him. _Maybe if I hadn't let myself go so long without blood in those days I would never have lost control like that._ She had never seen him drink from a human, well, except for herself, and that was only because his life was in danger. _Yet Beth had not been disgusted or repulsed by it… she sought me out very persistently afterwards and… kissed me. After I had fed on her blood in a way I had never wanted to. _ She knows what sunlight does to vamps, how stakes can make us helpless, how silver is our poison. _And she still wanted me, not just me as a human, but vampire too. What have I done?_

Even after the endless replays of their last few encounters, Mick asked himself again and again if Beth knew enough to really consider the implications of what she had said, though it didn't seem like she was far from it. She knew much of the worst of being a vamp and she'd accepted it better than Mick had after fifty-five years of living it. Beth had often told him that she'd covered too many stories of murder and torture to think that the vamps Mick had put down were any worse than some of the humans roaming the same streets, and that there were some vamps who were good and decent people. He'd been forced to agree with her more than once on that lately, but maybe he hadn't been trying hard enough to make her understand that being a vampire was more about unnecessary death and less about living forever than she thought. _I don't want her to really understand because then she will hate me, and that I couldn't bear. Idiot. She sounded like she was hating me just fine when she told me to get out of her apartment last week. _

By the time the plane landed, Mick was angry, tired, and hungry; not a good combination for a vamp. Guillermo sensed his dark mood and for once didn't try to make a single joke or snide comment, just sold Mick the blood and waited for him to leave with it. As Mick finished his second serving for the night and washed the glass so Beth wouldn't have to see it and be reminded of his unnatural appetite, he remembered that at this point Beth wasn't going to be seeing the inside of his apartment, or him for that matter, anytime soon if he didn't find her.

As he threw his clothes over the chair and stepped into the ice-cold shower, he replayed in his mind the last time he'd seen Beth. He should have gone to her, held her, hell, taken her to bed and pretended that there was no tomorrow. Even if she had hated him for it later, they would have had that one night in each others arms. She likely wouldn't have hated him any more than she did right now.

Josef would have said that all Mick needed was to keep a few freshies around to feed on just before he "hopped in the sack with Blondie" and he'd be fine. Easy for him to say. Just because Josef could drink from two or three of his women and amuse himself by going to bed with another "snack", Mick was just not capable of the same. He would never be able to look Beth in the eye and suggest they make love as he licked fresh blood that wasn't hers off his lips. Or even if the blood had been hers, Mick didn't think he could do it. Not that he hadn't seen Josef do just that on the few occasions he'd stayed around that far into Josef's fun, but the difference was that Josef had never been in love with any of the involved humans. Sara had happened before Mick had met him, so he truly had no idea if Josef had slept with her before her ill-fated turning, but he doubted it. Being of the same generation as Sara, Mick clearly remembered that in the 50's women from good families like Sara's waited until they were married to be so intimate.

Thinking of Sara reminded Mick of the look on Beth's face when she handed Josef the diary. Beth had read it, been fascinated by it, Mick remembered. He hadn't understood then, but in hindsight Beth had looked as if she shared a sort of kinship with Sara and her desire to be turned so she could be with the man she loved. There was not an ounce of disapproval in Beth when she had read the diary or given it to Josef, but Mick now realized there may have been more empathy for Sara that he'd realized. Was he denying Beth the same chance that Josef had given Sara, even if it had not turned out well for them? He couldn't help but think that he making such a decision for Beth, without her consent, just like Coraline had made the decision for him so many years ago. Without the cure to make him human enough to be with Beth for a mortal lifetime, his options were few, and were going to be none if he didn't find her soon.

After drying off from the shower, he called Logan. Surely he would have something on Beth by now. After twenty-six rings, the phone finally picked up and a very annoyed Logan answered. "What!?"

"Logan, it's Mick."

"Jesus, Mick. Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Mick looked at the clock. It was just before noon. Obviously Logan had been catching up on some freezer time. "Sorry. Jet lag. What do you have for me?"

"Nothing, Mick. I've got nothing, ok. She covered her tracks really well, and she obviously doesn't want you to find her. Maybe you should take the hint, Romeo." click

_I am definitely losing my touch. That boy used to be afraid of me. Why, I'm not sure, but he would never have said that a week ago. What changed? _But before he could investigate further, he needed to catch up on some deep freeze himself. Stepping into the icy mist that always hovered in his freezer, he let the cold wrap around him like a blanket while all the while wishing that it was the warmth of Beth's body that surrounded him instead of the unnatural cold of this death. His last thought before he drifted off to sleep was how much he missed Beth's smile, the playfulness of her eyes when she used to look at him… before Josh's death. Mick hoped that his Beth, and he had come to think of her as _his_ more and more lately, was someone that was still possible to find, and not just someone whose spirit he had broken in his arrogance.

Sunset found Mick was standing outside of Logan's door. "Mick," Logan was looking surprised to see him. "How long have you been back in town?" Logan was nervous and Mick needed to know why.

"Yesterday morning. Where's Beth, Logan? You said you can't find anything on her, but even I can find out that her car was found abandoned in Idaho of all places two days ago." Mick was trying to control the anger, because Logan didn't look guilty, just anxious.

"Yeah, um, you're going to have to talk to Mr. Kostan about that. I can't be involved in this little game anymore… Please, Mick. I'm barely three years old and I break easily," Logan said as Mick advanced on him, grabbing him by the throat and sliding him up the wall until his feet dangled. As a vampire, it wasn't a position that was likely to cause him any damage, but Logan was new enough that he hadn't lost his sense of human frailty and Mick took full advantage of it.

The vampire in Mick came out to play as his fangs elongated and his eyes faded to pale blue. Logan was holding out on him and he was not going to stand for it any longer. "Where. Is. Beth. Do not make me ask again." If he had stopped to think about it, Mick would have been appalled at his behavior, but now he was even more worried about Beth than he had been. Assuming that Beth had been simply running from him, Logan would have no reason to withhold information. Something was going on and Mick wanted the truth.

"I swear, Mick, I have no idea. Please don't kill me. I'm just following orders, ok? I'm the only vampire computer nerd in town since Ryder left… I can help you with anything else, but not that, please?"

Logan's pleading helped Mick regain his control. The sound of people begging for their lives at his hands was something he only wanted to hear from those he had killed because they were evil, and Logan was not evil. Mick pushed the vampire back down inside and let Logan go. Too embarrassed to apologize, Mick stormed out into the night and drove to Josef's as fast as his vintage car would allow.

Using the key Josef had given him years ago, Mick bypassed the beautiful women Josef had trained to offer their wrists to him for Josef's amusement and ran up the stairs to the third floor. A large but young vampire stood outside of the door to Josef's suite. Mick remembered the man, an assassin by trade before he was turned, and now one of Josef's bodyguards. Conveniently, the vamp was used to Mick being the poor little friend who always refused to drink fresh blood and didn't like hurting people, but that was not the vamp Mick was right now. Mick threw the bodyguard aside before he could comprehend the change of personality, swung the door open to find Josef getting a massage from a petite human woman with blonde hair.

"Out!" Mick hissed to the woman and she wasted no time in getting out of the way, leaving by the other door.

Josef sat up and looked at Mick. "Oh, hell, Mick. Calm down and tell me what it is you think you know before Revan and Angelo fill you full of more silver shot than I'd have time to dig out of you." Josef had had a lot of practice looking calm when faced with personal violence, and the air of superiority and confidence worked as well as a broadsword most times in stopping an attacker. He motioned towards the doorway where Mick had just entered.

Mick turned to see the man he had just thrown aside and another one of Josef's bodyguards with large caliber handguns trained on his chest. Discretion is the better part of valor, Mick decided at that moment and he put his hands up and forced his human face back to the forefront before sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. He kept his hands out in a non-threatening manner because he'd never find Beth if was dead in Josef's bedroom.

"Where's Beth, Josef?" Mick tried to ask calmly.

"How should I know? You're the one who sent her packing, not me," Josef said as he grabbed his shirt from the bed and started to dress.

"You told Logan not to look for her anymore, didn't you? Why would you do that?"

Josef was relieved to discover that this was all Mick knew, or he likely would not have given up the threat of violence so easily. Josef pitied Mick more than he did Beth when she had told him she was dying, and pity was not an emotion he was used to feeling. He hoped the sensation would pass soon, because he was eager to get back to the greed and lust that were waiting for him. For now, though, he tried to play the father figure. "You need to let her go, Mick. She made it clear to you that she didn't want you following her this time, didn't she? When she calms down she'll probably be waiting on your doorstep again. Maybe she just needs a little time to figure out what she wants, or more importantly, maybe you just need a little time to figure out what you want."

He looked up at Josef for the first time since coming in with fangs bared. "Since when do you know so much about what Beth needs? And why do you care if I find her or not? She's nothing to you, Josef."

There was no way Josef was going to rise take the bait; he had more experience with these little verbal sparring matches that Mick ever would. "I'm sure going to start to care if you keep coming in here all fangy and threatening, throwing my employees around, and more importantly disturbing a very relaxing massage. Do you know that she used to be a gymnast before I hired her?" Josef was motioning now towards the abandoned massage table and then the door where the petite blonde ran out in a hurry. "You have no idea the things she can do…would you like to? I could arrange it and help take your mind off your little girlfriend, since I'm guessing your vacation didn't turn up anything useful or you wouldn't be in such a foul mood." Josef waived off the bodyguards and they shut the door, but Mick and Josef both knew they'd be standing just outside waiting in case there was trouble.

Mick couldn't help but smile at his friend, who's mind always seemed to be on power, money, or women, and usually in that order. "France was mostly a waste of time. I appreciate the offer, really, but I only have eyes for Beth, even if she was never a gymnast."

"Your loss," Josef quipped. "Things can't go on between you and Beth as they were, Mick, you've both seen to that, so there will be no more procrastination. Do you really want her back, or are you going to take my advice and let her go?"

Mick took a deep breath that he clearly didn't need now that the cure had worn off. "I've tried, Josef. I know it's better for her, but I can't let her go."

Offering Mick a hand up off the floor, Josef looked him in the eyes for a moment longer than necessary. "Then you have only once choice left, my friend. Turn her. Turn her and bind her to you as your child. Problem solved."

"But I…" Mick tried to protest.

Josef interrupted. "No, Mick. This is what you have made it. You can have someone else turn her if you can't do it yourself, but decide if you would still want her once it's done. Decide if you are man enough, vampire enough, to claim her. If you are, I'll help you find her and teach her. If not, get out of my house and don't come back." Josef said as he walked out and shut the door behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Two days of watching her back made Beth hopeful that she was free of anyone who might have followed her from Washington. Not that she had actually seen anyone, but the look that those two men gave her as she drove away from Camille's made her skin crawl. She was absolutely sure that she didn't want to be around them ever again, and definitely not alone. Given the rapid escalation to violence as she drove away that night, however, she had every reason to be worried that they were looking for her. Ditching her car in Idaho had been easy, but getting here without it had been somewhat more difficult. Fortunately, she was able to buy a sturdy backpack and cold weather gear, and fit right in with the other all-season outdoorsy types, even if the elevation above sea level wasn't agreeing with her.

The one time Mick had fed from her highlighted the fact that long outdoor hikes in the bright sunshine were not healthy for vampires, and Beth intended to take full advantage of that fact to try and lose anyone tailing her. She settled on a day in Craters of the Moon National Preserve, mostly for its bright, reflective snowfall and relative lack of shade. Hitching a ride with some backpackers had easily gotten her there, but the modest hike that she took convinced her that of two things: she was really easily winded, which was not an encouraging sign for her longevity, and it didn't seem like anyone was following her. There were no reluctant-appearing hikers shielding their eyes from the sun, no one sitting in their car for extended periods of time, and the only person that had appeared to be watching her had gone away quickly when she refused to give him her phone number.

Securing a bus ticket to her destination had been easy, and again there were no signs of vampires. She wished she had Mick's ability to smell out his own kind; it would have made this much easier she thought as she rested her head back against the seat. Mick would have known what to do, Beth thought as her eyes closed for the first time in nearly thirty hours.

Mick was with her, and they were standing at the door to his apartment the night he had bitten her in that desert motel. He had opened the door and started to say something to her to dismiss her, to let her go without making her feel like she had to ever see him again. Mick looked as he always did when Beth saw him at his most vulnerable… as a vampire, which she thought was odd because that was when he was at his best. This time, she wanted to take away the regret about what he was and why he had needed her blood. Before he could even begin to talk her out of it, she took his face in her hands and kissed him gently on the lips, as if asking for permission to continue.

Clearly trying not to react to her touch, he let her continue for a moment before pulling away. "Beth," he said in that tone again, the one where he was going to make excuses and create that distance between them again, but she stopped him before he could get even another word out. This time, she wasn't asking permission. Her lips were insistent, and her hands stretched up behind his neck to hold him to her as she carefully stepped into his apartment and shoved the door closed with her foot.

She could feel his restraint slip slightly as he returned the kiss, and she loved that she could have that effect on Mick. The smell of him, of his jacket, now caught her attention, and Beth slid the leather off his shoulders and down his arms, but he made no move to help her. _He's as nervous as a virgin on his wedding night… then again, I guess he'd have reason to be given what happened that time._

The stairs that led to his loft were close, but she was worried she wouldn't be able to find them without breaking the kiss. Worried that if their lips parted he would try to talk her out of what she was desperately trying to talk him into, Beth nipped at his lower lip, drawing a low growl from her vampire. Spinning them both around so that his back was towards the stairs, she knew that he would find them and she wouldn't fall ungracefully on her rear end. And if he happened to fall down in the process, she decided, she would take full advantage of the situation.

At the foot of the stairs Beth dropped her coat to the floor and started to unbutton his shirt, but Mick grabbed her hands in his so fast she wasn't sure what had happened. His touch was gentler than she expected after that, but he pulled her hands slowly away from his chest. "Beth, please don't," he whispered into her ear, his voice begging her to stop and at the same time pleading with her to not to. "I… I could hurt you… you don't understand, Beth…"

She stepped up onto the first riser and pulled her shirt over her head, revealing the perfect expanse of skin that was covered only by a thin white bra. Now that she had his attention again Beth said, "I do understand, Mick. I know what you are and how much you hate it. I know that you won't kill me, I know you won't hurt me, or it would have happened earlier tonight when you were hungry. And what you don't understand is that I liked the bite, Mick. I liked how it felt, so don't apologize and don't be afraid to do it again if that's what you need. Just make love to me, please, Mick." Before he could think to protest again, she guided his hands to her breasts and held them there while a look of incredulity passed over his face.

When Beth reached for his shirt again, he made no move to stop her and soon the firm expanse of his chest was bare and waiting for her. Her touch made him shudder and his nipples harden, and her lips followed the path her fingertips had traced, all the while Mick fought the urge to rip the rest of her clothes off right there. Beth knew it had been too long since he had allowed himself such intimacies. She kissed him again, and this time she felt his will surrender to her as his strong arms wrapped around her and held her close while he let his tongue explore her mouth as she moaned. The feel of Mick that way, full of desire for her, was something Beth had thought she would never be able to experience, and it felt glorious.

One of his arms was suddenly behind her knees, the other still holding her against his chest while he carried her up the stairs to his bed. Her pale skin and hair were framed by the deep blue of the sheets, and she stretched invitingly in front of him before turning over to undo the back of her bra. Mick knelt on the bed, one knee on each side of her while his weight trapped her there and pressed her lightly down into the soft mattress. The slightly calloused surface of his palms made her shiver as he touched every inch of skin that was revealed to him, as if he had never seen anything so beautiful. That look of reverence in his eyes meant everything to Beth… every time he had denied her or pushed her away, its purpose was only to bring her to this moment.

Mick's lips felt like cool fire against the skin of her back, building her desire and making her moan for him again. She turned over and let his hands roam over her breasts until her nipples were hard and aching, and when his mouth enveloped each one in turn she thought she might come from that feeling alone. While he watched her pleasure build, Mick's eyes were filled with a heat Beth had never seen before. It was the confident desire of a man who knew what he wanted, and knew that the woman before him wouldn't say no.

"Ma'am? Ma'am?" A grey-haired man in his fifties was patting her shoulder lightly. "I'm sorry to have to wake you. But we've arrived in Salt Lake City, which is your destination, isn't it?"

Beth felt as if she had just been caught in flagrante delicto by this unassuming bus driver. She scrambled to sit upright and prayed that she hadn't been talking in her sleep. Josh used to tease her about that little habit whenever he stayed over, she remembered, and Beth suddenly found herself missing him very much. There had been no time to mourn his death, no time be angry about how quickly she was going to join him, and no time to wait for Mick to stop being afraid of himself. As she gathered up her belongings and muttered a hasty apology to the driver, Beth found it ironic that the three people who stood to gain the most from her crusade had nothing but time.

Standing in the rain outside of the bus station in this unfamiliar city, in the quiet of the night, Beth felt very alone. Even with the rain the city felt silent, expectant, waiting. Unable to shake the feeling that it was somehow waiting on her, that her time was running out in this place, Beth pulled Mick's jacket more tightly around her and inhaled the lingering scent of him. It helped somewhat, but not as much as it used too. _This is my last lead, the last chance I'll probably have to help Sara, to give her the immortality she was willing to die for, and to return to Josef the woman that he loves. And if I'm very lucky indeed, maybe my last chance to find enough of the cure to give Mick the mortal life he never chose to end._

The stillness and quiet followed her in the taxi, as if the shield of her own inner denial of the last few weeks had somehow expanded beyond her face to encompass everything around her. She thought she had known well the emptiness of her heart, but this was the realization that she probably wouldn't be leaving here alive. The address on the box was only a twenty minute drive from the bus station, but it felt longer. Beth was glad she didn't have to walk because she was tired just from hauling her belongings around.

Josef had warned her against going to Salt Lake City when she had checked in with him last night. "That is a no-fly zone for vamps and their humans. For the last hundred and fifty years it has been off limits to us… any vampire who goes there simply does not come back, period. Those Mormons are feisty, and they _really _don't like us. I can't imagine they'd like you any better if they figured out you were marked by a vamp," he had said. Josef had even tried to talk her into coming back to L.A. rather than come here. "Mick is a little angry about not being able to find you, and no, I haven't told him anything. Maybe you should call him, preferably before he tries to kill me. He really loves you."

"That's just not enough anymore," had been the only thing she had said to Josef before hanging up on him. It was as good a day as any to die.

2150 Sunshine Avenue was not a place that one would expect to find vampires, and Beth really hoped there were none here. The package that Camille had given her was addressed to Aileen O'Meara, though honestly, she had been expecting a residence, not a research building. She paid the taxi driver and headed across the parking lot when she noticed a sign that said "Hematology Solutions—Building C". She knew that name; it was the same company that had a drug in research trials for silver poisoning, the same one that she had planned to visit if she survived finding the cure. _This had to be the place. There's no way this is a coincidence._

Filled with a new sense of hope, Beth headed for the front entrance and hoped that someone was working late. Just as she was walking up the steps, package in hand, she found herself pinned face down with someone's knee in her back and their cool hand over her mouth… not that she could have screamed anyway, given that she was struggling just to breathe at the moment. A man's voice spoke softly into her ear. "Now, Miss, we are going to go somewhere quiet and have a little chat. Please cooperate so I won't have to hurt you and you can be back to your master in short order." His British accent lent an air of formality to his demand, but he sounded almost gleeful when he continued. "If you fail to cooperate, I will very much enjoy drinking every last drop of your blood. Do you understand?"

Beth nodded but she had no intention of going quietly. There were surveillance cameras here, she had noted earlier, and at least if this bastard killed her here it would be on tape. She was betting that her attacker knew it too. As soon as she could breathe a little better, she was pulled to her feet and pushed back towards the parking lot. Thinking that she was being compliant, the vampire's hand moved away from her mouth and Beth screamed as loud as she could for help, at least until she felt fangs sink into her neck. This bite was nothing like the ones Mick and Josef had given her, and even Camille must have softened the reality of it. This just plain hurt, and certainly not in a good way.

But before he could take more than a few mouthfuls, he became completely still while blood slowly trickled down her neck. A woman's voice said, "lift him off of her slowly, so his fangs don't tear the skin of her neck." Beth was still held in the vampire's grip, so she couldn't see who she was talking to until she was extricated. Gauze was held against her neck and a woman's hand pressed firmly down to stop the blood flow while she was escorted inside the building with considerable haste. No one spoke or acknowledged Beth beyond the woman with the iron grip trying to stop the bleeding, the one who pushed her onto some sort of exam table from a room that looked like it belonged in an ER rather than an office building.

Finally the woman stepped forward into her view, taking Beth's hand and pressing it over the bite wound so she could remove hers. She was a little taller than average, maybe in her early thirties with long red hair, green eyes, and a face that was disarmingly composed and even serene, as if she knew something you didn't. "Hold that tightly," she said in a way that made it clear she was used to being obeyed. Beth complied because everything was happening so fast there was no chance to catch up. The red-haired woman turned to her companion, who Beth saw was a man in his early twenties with short dark hair and intelligent eyes, who happened to be dragging along Lance's creepy friend behind him complete with stake sprouting from his chest.

The man and woman started talking to each other like Beth wasn't in the room. "Don't worry, Moira, the vamps all know not to come to this city," the woman said in a voice that was clearly mocking him. "We've killed enough of them that the word is out, and they're teaching it to their new turns. Nothing to worry about, really." she continued with a look in her eyes that said she was none to pleased as she gathered up several items from drawers in the room. Beth was glad she was not the object of Moira's disapproval.

The man had pulled a large sword from cabinet and moved back towards the vamp on the floor while he talked. "Christ, Moira, this is the first one in ten years. There's bound to be an occasional idiot hoping to prove the others wrong." He lifted the sword above his head and in a flash brought it down to sever the head of Lance's lackey with a dull wet sound that made Beth flinch. Barely pausing in the conversation, he continued, "I hardly think this represents the first wave of an invasion." The body and head were being dragged onto a tarp with handles while he talked.

"You aren't old enough to have been on the receiving end of an invading vampire army, so don't lecture me about what is and what isn't a threat, Michael." Moira had removed Beth's hand from the gauze and checked it carefully before tightly taping down a bulky dressing, all the while without actually seeming to acknowledge her as a person. The whole conversation and chain of events was eerie, as the two of them seemed to be going about a routine, almost like a married couple discussed their plans for the day while making coffee and breakfast in the morning. It seemed prudent to avoid getting in the middle of their argument, so Beth remained silent.

Another man walked into the room and set down the box that Camille had given to Beth. "He was the only one. I found this in the parking lot. The woman was carrying it before she was attacked." He bowed deeply and backed out of the room after Moira dismissed him with short nod.

Moira went on as if she hadn't been interrupted. "I give you the simple task of making the Mormons look even scarier than they were before, and I get a vamp at my doorstep." She picked up the Camille's package. "How hard could that really…" Stopping mid-sentence she finally looked at Beth like she was a person before coming to stand in front of her in a way that invaded her personal space just enough to make Beth uncomfortable. The look she received made her feel like a child who had just gotten caught doing something she wasn't supposed to.

"What's your name?" Moira asked.

"Liz Myles." Beth replied carefully, thinking that incurring the wrath of these two might be worse than the vamp with the head amputation. She hoped the shortness of breath she'd had since getting crushed on the concrete stairs outside was going to get better. It was probably just anxiety… she'd only been attacked by vampires a few times before this and probably just hadn't gotten used such occurrences yet.

"And where, Miss Myles, did you happen to acquire this box?"

"From Camille Dubois, owner of an orchid business outside of Seattle. She gave me this address just as this vamp," she pointed to the bandage on her neck, "and his master showed up."

Moira looked as if she was trying to decide if Beth was telling the truth or not. "Camille knows better than to just send a human, especially one so recently placed into the service of a vampire, into my city unannounced."

There was just no way around mentioning that Camille was most likely dead, well, really dead. "The one you just killed, and thank you by the way, was with another vampire named Lance. Camille gave me the address and the package just as they were coming to see her… she sent me away with this as quickly as she could, but I don't know if she survived her meeting. I heard gunshots as I drove away, and since the one that you killed obviously got away, it makes me think Camille might not have been so fortunate."

Moira opened the package while Michael had assumed a position behind Beth. A small potted plant, no more than several inches tall emerged from the box, along with a book with instructions how to grow orchids. "I doubt," Moira said, "that you were sent here to deliver such a common variety as this to me, especially since I did not order it." Beth shook her head.

"So you are the Aileen O'Meara? Or is that just a code to let you know that she already sifted through my mind when she drank from me and that I was not sent here for any malevolent purpose?"

"Something like that, Miss Myles." Beth noted that Moira, or whatever her name was, had deliberately side-stepped the question. "For what purpose are you here then?"

"I'm looking for the substance which masks the signs of vampirism for a short period of time, the one made from Night's Blood and AO negative blood, and apparently Camille was under the impression that you would be able to help me." Beth tried to look determined but not demanding.

Moira glanced at Michael briefly but said nothing. "I do not sell to hunters, and usually not to anyone else either. Tell me who your master is, and who it is that he wants dead. The quarry must be quite powerful if you've been sent here to seek this poison."

There was that word again, _poison._ Camille had called it that too, but Mick and Coraline, from what she understood of the situation, never thought of it in that way. Beth was starting to worry that if she did manage to get her hands on this concoction that she'd been taking Sarah away from Josef, not saving her. But it did make some amount of sense, now that she thought about it. A small nick with a blade or stake… or bullet that was coated in the compound could turn a vamp into a human. Humans were easier to kill if you were a vampire. "He isn't trying to kill anyone, just save the woman he loves. After he turned her fifty years ago, she never regained consciousness, but she seems to be a vampire in every other way. I would need to call and ask him if it was alright to give his name to you, but I really haven't been 'sent'. My…master," _I'm still not comfortable with that word, but what the hell, all the vamps I run into seem to be,_ "did not mark me until after I had made considerable progress in this search, and in fact he asked me not to come here." Beth turned to look at Michael and gave him smile. "He thinks the Mormons are very scary." Taking deep breaths just wasn't getting any easier, and she wondered if the blow to her chest had done more than merely knock the wind out of her.

"Give me your wrist," Moira said. This was a request that Beth had gotten strangely accustomed to in little more than a week. Blood was not just a commodity, it was a means by which vamps gathered information. It was always about the blood, Beth knew now, and the ease at which she accepted that reality surprised even her. She took off Mick's jacket and offered her wrist palm side up to her, expecting to see the pale flash of eyes just before becoming another vampire snack. What Beth didn't expect was a needle connected to a blood bag like the kind that Mick depended on for his existence. Ever since Josef had seduced her, or maybe that was her seducing him, she'd come to think of these plastic bags of blood as the Slim Fast of vampire cuisine. It might keep you alive, but not in any way that was pleasurable or satisfying.

As the bag filled, Beth wondered if her two rescuers were human, or just well fed vampires. Maybe they really were scientists, or even part-time scientists and part-time Mormons. Since neither seemed inclined to initiate conversation while the blood was flowing, Beth decided to put her journalism skills to use and try to get some more information.

"I have the right blood type for making this compound. AO negative. Is that what you are going to do with it?"

There was silence until the bag was full and the needle was removed from her arm. "Actually, I was going to figure out how bad your liver damage is before I stick a large bore needle into your chest to drain the fluid from around your right lung. As of right now, I'm not sure you'd survive that long enough to bring your prize back to your master." _Definitely well-fed vampire. I think I would have noticed a stethoscope. _Moira started filling glass tubes with blood from the bag before putting them into padded plastic cylinder that reminded Beth of the vacuum tubes at the bank drive-through.

The remainder of the blood found its way into a refrigerator, but not before Beth saw her place a few drops on her finger and lick it off, tasting it rather than drinking it for sustenance. Another glace between Michael and Moira was beginning to make Beth think that there it wasn't just small gestures going on between those two when they looked at each other. She felt left out of their silent conversation.

"Cancer." It was a statement, not a question.

Beth nodded. There was no point in trying to deny it. The hourglass was getting empty fast.

"It's spread to your liver, bones, and the right side of your chest at a minimum."

Beth sighed. "You forgot brain, several large blood vessels in the chest and abdomen, lymph nodes, and spleen."

The subject of conversation abruptly changed again when Moira asked. "Who's the other one, the other vamp you're involved with?" Beth looked surprised and tried to figure out what she was really being asked.

"You've got two other bites that match the mark on your neck, one on your wrist from Camille, one from the idiot Michael just separated from his head, and a jacket that smells strongly of a different, young, male vamp. What's his part in all of this?"

"Mick St. John. He's a… friend. One that has no part in looking for this cure," Beth blurted out without really thinking. She'd called it a cure.

"Really? That's interesting, because I would have thought that you were trying to make him human again, perhaps in addition to saving this other woman who belongs to your master."

_Shit._ "Help her first… If there's enough left over…" Beth was having trouble getting the room to stop spinning long enough for her to think. Strong arms lifted her off of the table and carried her out of the room, down the hall, and into a bed with railings. Moira was asking for some kind of kit, Beth wasn't sure what it was at that point, and it really didn't seem to matter anyway.

Beth turned her head and tried to focus on the red hair since the face didn't seem to want to stay still. "Please, the woman I'm trying to help… didn't wake up because… too much silver in her body… when she was turned… she needs the other drug you have… the one to get rid of it... when she's human." The same strong arms pulled Beth up into a sitting position and tugged her shirt over her head, followed quickly by removal of her bra. _Why is this guy taking off my clothes? I just met him. What was I trying to say?_ Then she remembered, "after the cure… then take away silver… she can live happily ever after… as a vampire… with Josef."

"Quiet," Moira said in a commanding voice. It didn't matter though, Beth was too weak to talk anymore. Michael's arms held her still while a burning pain shot through the middle of her back and she finally gave into the quiet darkness that had been waiting for her since she got off the bus.


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed the story. I'm so pleased that others are enjoying my imagination as much as I am. -Laurelin

Chapter 13

The next night, midnight

Mick knew that Josef had to know something about where Beth was, or he wouldn't have lied to him last night, wouldn't have evaded the questions and replaced them with advice on turning Beth. _Damn him. He controls one of my best sources of electronic information._ It was going to be tricky convincing Buzzwire's resident hacker to help him since Beth no longer worked there, but he was going to try to do just that tomorrow morning. As he closed his car door and walked back up to his apartment, Mick just couldn't shake the feeling that Beth was in danger. _Probably just anxiety because I have no idea where she is._

As he approached the door, Mick could smell Josef nearby and wondered what the hell he could want. Buzzing the lock open, Mick wasn't surprised to see him waiting in his apartment, but for once Josef had not helped himself to the blood. Gone was the cocky, self-assured, Machiavellian façade that Mick had become so accustomed to seeing on his friend. Josef was worried, very worried by the look on his face, and he'd resumed a very human habit of biting his nails.

Mick set down the bag he was carrying, poured them both a glass of blood and stored the rest away in the fridge. "What's wrong, Josef?" Mick asked since his friend hadn't seemed willing to start the conversation. Josef shook his head no at the offered glass and resumed his pacing. "I think something has happened to Beth. She normally checks in with me every night, but this is the second night she hasn't called."

Setting his blood down on the table, Mick tried to push down his anger but moved to stand in front of Josef to block the pacing. "Where is she, Josef?"

"Salt Lake City," Josef said quietly. Mick's eyes paled and his fangs extended, and he wanted to kill Josef at that moment, both for knowing where she was all this time, and for letting her go to such a dangerous city for the vamp-friendly. Mick wondered if Josef had told her to go there because he knew Mick would be less likely to follow. A thousand questions ran through his head all at once, but his years as a PI told him it wasn't good to push too hard on someone who looked as upset as Josef did. Well, assuming you actually wanted information from them. Josef obviously wanted to tell Mick what was going on or he wouldn't be in the apartment right now, Mick reminded himself, and if he ripped Josef's head off he wasn't going to be of much use in finding Beth.

"What is she doing there, Josef? Start from the beginning and don't leave out anything, especially the part about why she calls you every night." The possibilities that ran through Mick's head made him want to scream.

Josef finally looked Mick in the eyes. "She's been looking for a way to bring Sara back. Since the night you told her you didn't want h… the night you two disagreed on your future prospects together. I think she just snapped, Mick. She burned her proverbial bridges here in L.A. and came to me looking for help with fake documents, she got into Coraline's safe deposit box, spent the next several days figuring out what was wrong with Sara, and then she left looking for orchid farmers. She called two nights ago and said that she had to go to Salt Lake City to track down the best lead she had to make the damn cure." Josef laughed, but it was not out of humor, it was the laugh of someone who was starting to lose their grip. "Sara had silver poisoning, did you know that? I turned her into a vampire while her body was full of it, too much for the blood to heal. She trusted me, Mick, and I turned her like that."

Mick's anger receded at seeing Josef look so pitiful. "I'm so sorry, Josef." Mick knew that once a vampire had reached a certain threshold of contamination, there was no waking up. That's why he had destroyed Lola's warehouse, the one where she had kept dozens of vamps in a sort of suspended animation by poisoning them with silver so she could drain their blood at her leisure. There was no coming back from that kind of damage.

Josef stared at the floor for a few moments then Mick could visibly see him putting himself back together mentally, but the worry was still there. "Beth thinks that Coraline's cure will let Sara wake up, since that amount of silver isn't toxic to humans, then she hopes to find some experimental drug that is supposed to remove the silver from human's bodies. She's out there looking for it, Mick, but I haven't heard from her in two nights. She's called me at least once every single night to make sure that if anything happens to her, I'll know how to pick up where she left off."

"And you just let her go by herself, a human, into a vampire world which she knows almost nothing about? That's why you told Logan not to look for her. You knew where she was this whole time, you son of a bitch." Mick's fist slammed into Josef's face hard enough to knock him backwards over the chair and onto the floor, and while Mick was next to him in an instant with fist still clenched and fully vamped out, Josef made no attempt to stand up or retaliate. A small trickle of blood was visible at the side of his mouth though the wound was already healing.

Lying there on the floor, Josef said quietly, "she came to me of her own free will. I didn't ask her to do any of this, Mick. In fact, I asked her not to go to Salt Lake City, told her the Mormons were a dangerous lot. Beth wouldn't take no for an answer, so I just helped her where I could. You know, you don't give her enough credit. She understands more about the vampire world than you think." _And hopefully you won't find out just how much she learned about that in my bed._ "So are you going to stake me or give me a hand up so I can help you find her?"

Mick extended his hand but was none too happy about the situation. Josef rubbed his jaw lightly, hoping the fragments of his jaw would fuse soon and headed to the kitchen to retrieve the glass of blood that he had so recently declined. Though his features had returned to human, Mick was no less upset. "Why didn't you tell me, Josef? I could have helped her, kept her safe."

"Because she asked me not to tell you," Josef said as he made a face between swallows of blood like he'd just had milk that was a little too old.

Sitting on the couch, Mick ran his hands through his hair until they came to rest at the back of his head. "I knew she was upset, but I guess I didn't really know how much. God, I've been such an idiot, I just didn't want to hurt her. Now she's out there," his hand swept out to indicate nowhere in particular, "and I'm not there to save her."

"You _won't_ save her, Mick. Maybe you can get her out of Utah alive, I don't know, but you won't save her."

"What do you mean?"

Josef's cell phone rang before he could respond. "Yes," he said curtly.

Mick could hear everything that was said on the other end. "Josef Konstantine." The woman's voice was unfamiliar to both of them.

"Who is this?" Josef asked.

"You may call me Moira. I have someone of yours, and she's alive for now." The voice reminded Josef of some of the oldest vamps he'd ever met, they gave nothing away but always left you thinking they knew things you didn't. "I do not approve of you sending your servant into my territory without permission."

"Would you have granted such permission if I had asked?"

"Of course not," Moira said.

"Then shall we move on to discussing terms for her return?" Josef had fallen into his negotiation voice. No, not the one where he threatened bodily harm to the other party. At least not yet.

"No, because there will be no discussion. You will accept my terms unconditionally."

Josef was certainly not used to anyone talking to him this way, but he wasn't sure he had much choice. "I'm listening."

"Honesty is what I require of you for right now. Your lover, the one you tried to turn, she is in New York City, is she not?"

He would have been happier if the woman had just asked for a ridiculous sum of money. "She is."

"Your Beth has been very cooperative in providing me the information I requested, but she apparently will not give me the address where this woman waits for you. I trust that you will provide that information to me."

Mick was motioning for Josef to give him the phone, or at least make the woman put Beth on the line. What Mick didn't understand was that this was not some human kidnapper that could be threatened or tricked. Josef found himself doubting if he really had anything that this woman could want, which meant she was holding all the cards. "I am going to have to ask your intent towards both women before I reveal such a thing. I do not want to lose either of them."

Moira's voice remained cool, almost professional… assuming that cold-hearted bitch was a profession. "My intent is to return Beth Turner to you before her time comes to an end, which will be very soon, though I have been considering keeping her for myself if I decide you are not deserving of her. She really is quite remarkable for a human, and it would be unfortunate for you if I discover her to be a pawn sent to sacrifice in a larger game of chess."

This was getting awkward with Mick standing here, Josef thought. "She is no pawn. I warned her not to enter your city, asked to remain here with me for her last days so I could care for her, but Beth controls her own destiny, not I," Josef said with a softness to his voice that Mick had rarely heard from his friend in all the years he had known him, and then only when he talked about Sara. The worst part was that Mick had no idea if it was all show for Beth's captor or if it was sincere. Either way, Mick didn't like Josef talking about Beth that way. _She's mine._ Mick felt like his head was going to explode from not being able to talk, to ask questions, to demand that he be allowed to talk to Beth. So he paced with worry as Josef had done a short time ago, trying to figure out what the hell was going on and how he was going to squeeze every last drop of information out of him once he was off the phone.

Moira continued as if satisfied with that answer, "Regarding your other lover, I have only a charming story by which to judge her. Should I find it to be truthful, and I certainly hope for your sake that you have not fabricated such an elaborate lie, Sara will also be returned to you, though with a considerably longer lifespan than your human."

_If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is._ Josef knew that she very well could just be lying, having no intention of helping either Beth or Sara. But Moira was correct, he was going to agree to her terms unconditionally. He gave her the address.

"I knew we would see eye to eye on this, Mr. Konstantine. I will meet you there in twelve hours, but know that if there are more vampires than yourself and the one you are with now anywhere close to the address, I will consider our deal invalidated. You may keep two humans there for their blood, but there will be only fresh blood on the premises, nothing that comes from a plastic bag. Now give the phone to Mr. St. John."

How she knew Mick was with him, Josef didn't know, but he was going to hire more bodyguards very soon, and he was going to watch his back a lot more closely. This woman knew too much, even if she had tortured it out of Beth, Josef thought as he handed the phone to Mick. Before relinquishing it completely Josef told him, "behave. Please, Mick, I'll explain later."

"Put Beth on the phone, I want to talk to her." The anger and frustration in his voice were palpable, and Josef shook his head. Mick was not improving their chances of success. You simply did not talk to the old ones that way if you expected to live very long.

Moira went on like Mick had not just made demands of her. "Mick St. John, I presume. You will accompany Mr. Konstantine on his journey to New York. I am going to ask you something, and I want you to think very carefully about this during the next twelve hours. When we meet face to face you will provide me with your honest answer. The question is this: do you hate what you are more than you love the beautiful Beth Turner?"

"What have you done to Beth? I'm not answering your stupid question until I know Beth is alright!"

"Is that so? If you choose to disobey me, I will leave you with _nothing_ but your pitiful immortal existence, drinking the blood of the dead and wishing for things I will make certain you never have. Do not try my patience, Mr. St. John." The line went dead.

Josef stared at Mick sternly, disapprovingly. "I told you to behave," Josef said.

Mick was furious, "that woman has Beth! We have no idea what she had done to her! She…"

Josef cut him off with a wave of his hand. "I'll explain on the plane. Now pack. Quickly."

"Damn it, Josef! You just let her get away with those threats! That woman talked about Beth like she was dying or something…"

Mick was definitely yelling in Josef's face, but Josef stared at him with a grim expression, and quietly said, "she _is_ dying, Mick." Josef waited for that to sink into Mick's head. "She has cancer, and she's dying. She found out the day after Josh died, before she tried to…" Josef closed his eyes for a moment and tried to push down his own feelings for Beth. "Before she asked you if you would turn her if she had been the one dying there in the park rather than her little human boyfriend. She knew before she asked you to stay with her that night, regardless of whether you were human or vampire."

Mick didn't know what to say. He could see the truth in Josef's face, and he just slumped to the floor and tried to absorb what he'd just heard… it couldn't be right. There had to be some other explanation. Mick was vaguely aware of Josef's voice in the background, but couldn't really hear him. He wasn't sure how long had passed, but Josef was forcefully pulling him off the floor and pushing him down the hall.

"We have a plane to catch. Pull it together, Mick. If you're lucky you'll get to see her one more time and ask for absolution from all your sins against her."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Two hours later

In the car on the way to the airport, Josef finally told Mick about how Beth had showed up at his office after that night at the park, and how he had paid Logan for two sets of fake identification for her. He gave Mick the diary from Coraline's safe deposit box, and told him about the flash drive that Beth had with her that detailed the experiments Coraline had done. The descriptions of Beth's fragile health and the doctor's visit before she left L.A. sent a pang of guilt through Mick that was real, physical pain to him. While a part of him appreciated how Josef had looked out for Beth, Mick was angry at him for letting her leave the relative safety of his mansion. Mostly Mick was mad because Josef had been there for Beth when he wasn't. _And I thought I felt guilty before. _

Mick decided that today he only liked Josef for his money and private plane with it's blacked out windows and expedited takeoff clearance. The fact that he had withheld so much information was a betrayal he would not soon forget, but he had no choice but to follow through with this trip and try to make the best of it. Being a vampire had taught Mick how to swallow his pride if nothing else.

After takeoff, Mick took note of everyone else that was with them as they tried to settle in for the long flight. Alexandra was there with Rebecca, who Mick vaguely remembered as being part of Josef's buffet table about ten years back, though she had apparently gone on to nursing school by the way she and the doctor sorted through their supplies and made plans for taking care of Beth. Mick knew they were planning for the worst, because he remembered doing similar sorting and talking in low voices before heading to the front lines in the War. There were two other women, both of whom Mick recognized as Josef's blood donors, and then two men that he wasn't familiar with. When he asked Josef about them, he said, "they're for Beth," with a laugh that made Mick wonder if he was serious or just trying to deflect attention from their true purpose.

He had been reading the diary through most of the first hour of the flight, unwilling to talk to Josef any further. Looking back on his own search for the cure and Josef's quest to save Sara, Mick couldn't help but be proud of how well Beth had done in such a short time. He half-hoped this whole meeting with Moira really was the trap that Josef worried about because he was sure that he no longer wanted to live without Beth. In his heart he had hoped that he would find the cure and have another fifty or sixty years with her, as her husband. Maybe even have children. It's hard to let go of a dream that you have wanted so long.

_But now I finally have to answer the question I have asked myself countless times. Can I sentence Beth to eternity of fearing the sun, drinking human blood, and living a double life? Something about becoming a vamp eventually kills the part of you that used to be horrified by the base instincts of humans, because the worst of those traits are intensified in the turning. The desire to kill, the hunger for blood so strong that you'd kill friends, children, babies, until you learn either learn to control it or some older vamp puts you out of your misery. I knew the tales of sires having to kill their own offspring, humans that they had turned out of love, because they were simply not able to learn control over the hunger. Can I destroy her innocence? Can I destroy the part of Beth that makes her good, decent… human? _

Josef sat down in the seat next to Mick's and asked, "would you like a bite to eat before we get there?" Deciding against giving a smart ass remark, Mick nodded yes and started to get up to find his stash when Josef pushed him back down. He snapped his fingers and the two freshies immediately came to him with eager expressions.

"Which one would you like, Mick? They are both delectable," Josef said as the two women came to sit on his lap. The blonde smiled at Mick as Josef whispered in her ear something about how she should remind him how delicious fresh blood is. She giggled and offered her wrist to Mick.

Mick was just disgusted by then with everything, the whole mess that Josef had gotten them all into. "Thanks, but no," Mick said as he tried to smile at the blonde so she wouldn't feel too rejected. "I brought my own this time." Josef nudged the ladies to get up, and before Mick could reach the back room of the plane, Josef had blocked the door.

"I had them throw out your retail sludge before we took off. It's fresh or nothing," Josef said with a defiant look in his eyes that spoke of challenge. Mick glared at him and tried not to think about how good it would feel to beat him bloody. "Are you going to turn her, Mick? Are you man enough? Vampire enough? Or are you going to just stand there like the pathetic human you are inside and tell her that this is what is supposed to happen to her, that she deserves a painful death at such a young age? I can get you a front row seat to watch the light go out of her eyes if you'd like…" Mick's fist was coming towards Josef's face an instant later, but he had anticipated Mick's reaction and had deliberately provoked him. The stake in Josef's right hand hit Mick solidly in the heart as Josef easily ducked to avoid the right hook that Mick predictably opened with.

Mick hit the floor with a solid and satisfying _thunk_. Josef straightened his shirt and came to stand over his friend, making sure that Mick could see him. "Good. Now we can have a little male bonding time." The assembled humans on board were suddenly very absorbed looking elsewhere and pretending like nothing unusual was going on while Josef hauled Mick up off the floor.

Josef paced in front of Mick while he talked. "Obviously, you have no intention of turning Beth and saving her from her current fate, or you'd be taking the opportunity to fill your veins with the fresh, young blood that will help her through the change. Even you wouldn't feed that morgue slop to a new turn. It would probably kill her for good and it is certainly not helping you much, given your penchant for wallowing in self pity and recent outbreaks of violence against one of the few vamps who would tolerate you. As your friend, I've unfortunately let your little eating habits slide because I used to like you and I used to think it was funny."

Putting his paralyzed friend into a vacant seat, Josef continued. "Exactly how long are you planning on sitting there feeling sorry for yourself and for Beth? When will you get it through your head that she doesn't want your pity, Mick? If she did, she would have just told you she was dying the night she tried to seduce you and hoped to get a sympathy fuck out of you before her time was up. But she didn't, she chose to throw your ass to the curb instead, and do what she could to help save a _vampire_ she doesn't even know. Unlike you, Beth seems to think that vampires can have some innate worth. By the way, you are an insult to the entire male gender turning down the advances of such a smart and beautiful woman like Beth. If she had come on to me like that, well…I don't have to tell you what I would have done."

Josef paused remember that short time with Beth and to let his words sink into Mick's thick skull. "She _wants_ to be turned, Mick. Did you know that? We had a good discussion about that very subject…and it seemed that you had already given her your answer. I offered to sire her myself, but she politely turned me down. Why, you might ask if you were able to form speech right now, did she say no to such a generous offer from an old and powerful vampire like myself? Because she's still in love with your sorry ass, though I can't understand why after how you've treated her. She also didn't want to make Sara uncomfortable, assuming she wakes up, by being with me as my child. I even offered to talk some sense into you for her, convince you that she wants to be with you forever, that she wants you to be her sire. It surprised me when she again said no. No. She knows you even better than I do, better than you know yourself Mick."

Getting right up into Mick's face, Josef grabbed the stake and twisted it, drawing a low moan of pain from Mick. "Beth knew that if you turned her, even out of desperation, a sense of your own guilt, pity, weakness, whatever, that you'd hate yourself more, and worse yet you'd come to hate her. What if she actually appreciated the gift of eternal life that you could give? What happens when she wants blood from a living, breathing human as we were meant to have? You would hate her, Mick, and Beth knew it. Or maybe were you just planning to neglect a sire's duty of teaching their child how to drink from humans? Perhaps I'm too hasty in that judgment… maybe you would teach her the bare minimum, all the while making her feel ashamed of something that is natural for us?" Mick was mad earlier, but listening to Josef and not being able to indulge his anger made him fume.

"I would do anything for Sara… _anything._ I love her as much as I did when she was human, and I turned her because she asked me to. You don't love Beth that much, Mick, no matter how much you pretend to. I already know what your decision will be, assuming all of this isn't some pretense to just kill us and Beth really did find the cure." Josef was thoroughly disgusted and made no attempt to hide his contempt from Mick. "You'll take the cure over Beth any day of the week, you weak son of a bitch. Beth knew it all along and she wrote you off, hell, she's probably willing to give you the cure if she has it so you can get what you really want. But I'd honestly hoped you were better than that, and though Beth won't say it out loud, she does too."

He looked over at Mick like he expected some sort of retort, but finding none he continued. "After we get to the townhouse and assuming we aren't killed immediately, you are going to say your goodbyes and get the hell out of my sight. The plane will take you back to L. A. and I'll fix the mess that you and Coraline started. But you had better be gone from my city by the time I get back, or I'll make sure your date with mortality gets moved up."

Josef walked off and left Mick sitting there with the stake still through his heart for two more hours. While Josef debated between giving Mick one more chance get his act together and dumping him out of the plane at 30,000 feet, he finalized arrangements with everyone on board and made half a dozen phone calls to New York and L.A. He wasn't quite sure how he'd handle two new fledglings himself, but proper logistics might help. Knowing Sara as he did, he knew she would accept him siring Beth much better than Beth thought she would. While new turns could be possessive of their sires, Sara would not be ungrateful to the woman that saved her. She would understand. _At least neither of them will be uncomfortable sharing a freezer with me, or a bed for that matter. That part Mick never needs to know. _

An hour before landing, Josef walked back to check on Mick. "Well, well. Here's to hoping you've cooled down a bit," and Josef pulled the stake free of Mick's chest. Suddenly able to move, Mick fell to his knees and tried to draw in air that he didn't strictly need while his body tried to heal the damage. He was hungry, but he forced his body to keep its human appearance. There'd been enough violence for one flight.

Standing a safe distance back from Mick, Josef waited, hoping the man-to-man (or vamp-to-vamp) talk had made some kind of difference. Mick felt the hole in his chest close and a few seconds later when most of the pain had subsided, he managed to get to his feet.

Josef was pleasantly surprised that Mick didn't look angry, so he pointed to one of the vacant seats where a shirt had been laid out. "Get cleaned up, change your shirt, and we'll talk. I will put the stake back in if you don't behave yourself," Josef said. There was no going back, no way to return to their friendship as it was before, but Josef prayed Mick would make the right choice. Since she had come to his office that night, looking so beautiful and fragile under that tough exterior, Josef had come to like and admire Beth Turner and he wanted her to be happy, even if it was with Mick.

There was a faint hint of embarrassment to Mick's features when he returned from the back room of the plane where he had replaced his bloody shirt with the stake-shaped hole. Josef indicated for him to sit on the other side of the small built-in table and he waited.

"You're right," Mick began. "I have been an idiot. When I told Beth that I would have let her die if it had been her there that day in the park instead of Josh, I lied because I didn't want to deal with the eventuality that someday she would ask me to turn her. But there is no protecting her anymore, no 'someday', not unless she's a vampire. She really did say all of those things, didn't she?"

Looking him in the eyes, Josef simply said, "She did. So what are you going to do, Mick?"

"I'm going to have a drink, assuming that young lady of yours is still around." Mick smiled, and Josef saw a flash of his friend that he'd hadn't seen since before he thought he'd killed Coraline to save Beth, the days when Mick seemed more comfortable with himself and he just hoped it would last.

"Good. I didn't think your sanity was going to last much longer in that chronically malnourished state." Josef waved over the blonde that had offered her wrist to Mick before and she came to stand right in front of Mick, waiting on him to decide what to do. Josef sat back and watched the pair intently as Mick took her hand and kissed the back of it once before opening his arms and gently pulling her down onto his lap. When he pushed her hair back from the side of her neck she shivered and leaned into him, encouraging him by tilting her head away to bare the soft skin and the tantalizing pulse of her blood underneath. When Mick felt his fangs descend and his eyes fade to vampire blue, he sank his teeth into the flesh of her neck and drank. The feel of this woman in his arms, her hot blood pouring into his mouth felt so natural and he enjoyed the taste of her pleasure at the act. Just as her heart rate began to increase from the blood loss, Mick pulled back and spent another minute licking the small holes he'd made until they had sealed, then kissed her neck further down as she relaxed into him. Mick picked her up easily and set her in the chair next to the brunette that bore Josef's bite marks.

As Mick returned to his seat, Josef couldn't help but look very pleased with himself, and with Mick. "So you do remember how to do that properly." Josef motioned to Mick's meal who looked sated, like she had just had collapsed from the best sex of her life. "She doesn't look like a victim, does she? I'd say she enjoyed that as much as you did. How does it feel, Mick, to be a real vampire again?"

"It feels great," Mick said, and he knew that the full meal of fresh blood had done more than heal the stake wound, it had cleared his head and taken away his lingering doubts. It was also like waking up from a nightmare knowing your reality might be worse.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

New York, 11:30 a.m.

Josef had finally stopped pacing and biting his nails and had gone to sit with Sara, wondering if today was going to be the first day of her new life or the last day of all of it. Sara's nurse was dismissed with a large envelope of cash and instructions to wait for a phone call before returning to work, while a bedroom was prepared for Beth, complete with blackout curtains and a brand new freezer. Alexandra and Rebecca had set up most of their supplies in Beth's room, though a small unopened suitcase had been set in Sara's. The two freshies who had been the in-flight meals were sent to a hotel, but the two men remained, strangely enough stationed in Sara's bedroom. Fresh food for the humans had been delivered and put away, and there was a shipment of blood on standby.

There was nothing left to do but wait. The interminable waiting drew Mick's mind back to when he was a child, when his mother would read The Night Before Christmas. Today felt like waiting for Christmas did to him all those years ago. No one in the house was stirring, all the preparations had been made, and they were all waiting on Santa. If they were good, they were going to be given their heart's desire, but if Santa decided they'd been bad, it was going to be wooden stakes, silver bullets, and beheadings in their stockings. His father's threat of a lump of coal no longer seemed such so awful.

At 11:55 Josef came down the stairs with an unreadable expression on his face, but his body language showed he was nervous. Other than the obvious fact that he didn't age, it was clear why most of Josef's business was conducted over the phone. He was able to school his voice better than his actions, and his voice was calm when he said, "age brings power, Mick, and if this Moira is as old as she sounds, please try to show some respect and don't speak unless spoken to. The old ones live by different rules, and the whole 'everyone is equal' thing does not apply here, okay? There is a class structure among these vamps based largely on age, power, and wealth, and you, my friend, are a peasant in that system. Please try to keep your temper and don't attack anyone, especially me, unless attacked first."

Knowing that now was not the time to argue these points, Mick nodded in agreement. They would discuss the peasant thing later if they survived. _With all the defending the weak and championing the cause of good, I had hoped to be at least a knight. Do they still require shining armor for that rank?_

They both heard the car as it stopped outside and were immediately on their feet. Josef opened the door and was surprised to see not a limo or taxi as they had expected, but an ambulance complete with uniformed doctor, driver, and paramedic, all of whom were working on getting their patient out of the back. The driver and paramedic were wearing the full dark glasses so common to vamps these days, but the woman in the long white coat seemed not at all bothered by the sun and left her eyes uncovered. She was strikingly beautiful by any standard, with long red hair pulled back into a professional looking braid arranged at the base of her neck in an elaborate knot. Porcelain skin with a scattering of freckles only enhanced her appearance, and her well toned body made Josef think she must spend quite a few hours at the gym. Her movements were fluid like a vamp but the obvious tolerance of the sun marked her for human.

The driver seemed unhappy with the daylight, but went about his duties without a word. His square jaw line and muscular physique made him appear taller than he really was, and more physically imposing. He had the body language of a warrior, though not the special-forces type of today; more like the armor clad, sword and shield bearing general Josef remembered so well from his childhood. Not a vamp to be toyed with, and certainly not just an ambulance driver.

The paramedic was wearing dark glasses, but he moved like a human, Mick thought. "There's only one vamp out there… and by the looks of him I don't think he was the one we talked to on the phone." he told Josef quietly.

Josef just shrugged, not willing to take his eyes off of the three of them and they slowly unloaded their patient, who looked very much like Beth except for the gaunt face and sickly pallor. Mick started to head out the door but Josef put an arm out to stop him. "Stay here," he commanded in a tone Mick had not often heard, but then more quietly, "let them come to us."

To Josef's surprise the woman walked in front of the male vamp pushing the stretcher like a servant, while the human male retrieved two large nylon bags from the ambulance. Beth was asleep, or drugged, but Mick and Josef were both relieved to hear her steady heartbeat. Both smelled the air and took in the scents that affirmed what they had seen at a distance, two humans, one vamp.

It was unlike any vampire to let a human do their talking, and even more so in this situation, but there she was. She inclined her head slightly towards Josef and then Mick. "Good day, gentlemen. I believe you are expecting me. May we enter?" It was very formal in word, but delivered with a hint of playfulness in the redhead's eyes, almost as if she was enjoying this, and the voice matched the woman's they had spoken to twelve hours ago.

"Moira, I presume?" Josef asked without missing a beat. He inclined his head in return to her greeting.

"Yes. Were you expecting someone else? Something else?" She asked with a smile that was flirtatious, toying with him.

"Of course not. Please come in." Josef stepped out of the way and pushed Mick behind him when he realized Mick had been too fixated on Beth to pay attention. _This might be easier than I thought._

"Thank you, Mr. Konstantine." Josef showed them to the bedroom that had been prepared for Beth, and while she was being transferred to the bed the degree to which she was ill became even more apparent. From underneath the blanket that had been tucked around her emerged an IV bag that may have been saline, another IV that was clearly a blood transfusion, and a box half full blood tinged liquid that was connected to some sort of clear plastic tubing which disappeared under Beth's gown in the vicinity of her chest. Alexandra and Rebecca had quickly introduced themselves and began evaluating the sleeping Beth while discussing her status with their counterparts. The jargon they seemed to understand so well meant little to either Mick or Josef, and the two of them felt almost extraneous since they had no clear role and consequently were ignored by everyone.

Well, everyone except the paramedic, who was not helping with Beth, but merely stood in the hall holding his two bags as if waiting for something. Josef knew that as much as he wanted go to Beth and make sure she was alright, this man was worth keeping an eye on. He was blocking the exit.

Meanwhile, words like "seizure", "pleural effusion", and "metastases" were being thrown around in the room which only made Mick even more worried about Beth. _Josef looks worried about her too, _Mick thought. Ignoring the paramedic in the hall, Mick started forward to go to Beth but again Josef held him back.

"Let them work, Mick. Alexandra knows you want to be with Beth, and she will tell us when it's okay," Josef said.

When that finally sank into Mick's head, he nodded in agreement, but all he could think about was holding her in his arms. _This is not the way this is supposed to happen… she's supposed to be awake so she can yell at me for being cowardly and stupid. Then she's supposed to say 'yes' when I ask her if she wants to be a vampire, if she wants to be mine. She's not supposed to be unconscious. I need her permission. I need her forgiveness._

The medical chatter continued for another ten minutes, though it seemed like forever, but finally Moira and Alexandra had stopped speaking. Moira walked back to where Josef and Mick were standing with her male vamp right behind her in obvious deference. Josef had never seen anything like it in his four hundred years. The vamp smelled old, at least as old as he was, but he served a human?

As expected, Moira did the talking. "Well, Mr. Konstantine, shall you and I proceed to my next patient while Mr. St. John has some time alone with Miss Turner? I do expect that they will have a lot to talk about once she awakens sometime in the next few hours." Again, the voice was cool and confident, but the look was playful in a way that made Josef uncomfortable. _Beth didn't know my true surname, Konstantine. She only knows Kostan and Fitzgerald… Moira has other sources, and that makes her dangerous._

Her look would have made Mick uncomfortable too if he'd been paying attention, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Beth and seeing that he wasn't going to be much help, Josef told him, "go ahead, sit with her and find out what's going on. We'll be with Sara."

Looking back at Moira, Josef tried to conceal his disbelief at how this human had enthralled a vampire as old as he was, and more importantly, his concern that she could do the same to him. "Moira," he said, "please call me Josef, since I am unable to return your formality as I do not know your last name." He reached for her hand and kissed the back of it, trying to lay on the charm that had always worked so well for him with human women. Her hand was warm to the touch, the pulse normal for a human, and being so close to her made it easy for Josef to inhale her decidedly human scent. No bite marks on her wrists or neck that he could see, though the male vampire behind her stepped forward at Josef's touch, and his meaning was clear. He didn't like Josef touching his woman. _Interesting._ Moira glanced at the vamp and he stepped back immediately and tried to look less hostile.

"Of course, Josef it is. Would you like to lead the way to Sara, or is there to be a riddle path for the directions?" she said with a smile that seemed to return his flirtatious advance, but somehow Josef got the impression that he was the one looking foolish.

"You haven't introduced me to your friend," Josef said, holding out his hand to the other vamp, who waited on a nod from Moira before taking the offered handshake.

"Michael," he said succinctly. "Nice to make your acquaintance," he said, though the sentiment did not reach his eyes. While not openly hostile, Josef decided that this one didn't like him. Josef remained still and looked at the three strangers as they stood in the hall, having the luxury of wondering what the hell was going on now that Beth was back and safely in the care of the doctor.

"Is there a problem, Josef? If you do not wish for me to wake up your Sara, please say so, and my work here will be nearly done." Moira asked innocently.

"Before I let you in the room with my future wife, I would like to understand what gives a human such expertise in such a rare complication of turning that I should entrust her to you. How do I know that whatever you do will help Sara? Other than the Hippocratic Oath, how do I know that you mean no harm?"

Moira stepped back to the door of Beth's room and opened the door quietly. "Pardon me, doctor, but is it your opinion that I have done anything to harm the helpless woman in front of you, the one so dear to these two men? Your employer wishes some confirmation."

Alexandra looked up at Josef and then Moira in turn. "There are several more vampire bites on her than at the time of my last examination, but I do not believe that they are the cause of her deterioration. It is the underlying disease that has progressed quite rapidly, and from what I can see here, your interventions have delayed her death and eased her pain. Does that answer your question?"

Moira looked at Josef expectantly. "Yes, thank you Alexandra," he said. Moira closed the door and waited.

Josef looked stern and imposing. "I think that it is time to renegotiate your terms and for you to tell me what you are really doing here. But more importantly, what you are seeking in return for these services. You had led me to believe that you were more than you are, older as it were, and though you have a formidable vampire than answers to you, on either your own merit or that of your companion, you are not powerful enough to dictate my unconditional compliance." Josef's eyes flashed to light blue though he did not change his stance.

"Easy there, Josef. I'm not here to harm you, Sara, or Miss Turner. No need for hostilities," she tried to be soothing and it helped somewhat, but not enough. "James, go park the ambulance and then wait downstairs for me. Michael, go with him." Both men nodded and headed for the stairs. Josef and Moira remained motionless while their footsteps retreated and the front door opened and closed. "Better? Feel less threatened now? I have sent away the vampire and my human assistant in the hopes that we can avoid the challenge of my power that you are obviously considering."

"It does make me feel better," Josef replied, "though why you would send away your vampire, the single person in this place that could demand negotiation from me, I do not know." Josef no longer attempted to hide his inner vamp at all.

Moira sighed and looked mildly annoyed rather than frightened. "Have you forgotten our agreement, young one? I make the rules, and you get what you want… well, perhaps nearly all of it. Were you planning on enforcing your primacy as Miss Turner's master, or were you going to step aside and let Mr. St. John have what is rightfully yours? That is, assuming he doesn't choose to become human and leave young Miss Turner all together, in which case you would be able to have both of your women… I do believe that Miss Turner would consent to you being her sire, but would Sara accept the competition for your affections? Would she tolerate you being so intimate with another woman, a newly turned vampire in the place by your side which should be hers? Sara will be human for weeks, perhaps months, until it is safe to allow the compound to wear off and her vampire genetics to reassume control. Will she still want you then?" Moira's eyes held a defiance that Josef could not let go unanswered.

Josef took a step forward towards this human that would dare to challenge him, dare to insult his friends, his women?

No sooner did he take hi first step towards her than she had both of Josef's wrists tightly in her hands and had kicked his knees from under him. The smell of decay poured off of her in waves, more potent than any vamp he'd ever met, and her iron grip held him there. Gone was the human façade with all it's correct biological details that he had seen earlier. It had been replaced by a smile bearing a pair of delicate fangs and eyes so pale they were nearly white, making her appearance frightening even to another vamp. Josef realized his mistake immediately, but it was too late. She brought one of his wrists up to her mouth and rubbed a fang lightly along the skin, teasing him, while Josef resigned himself to accepting the punishment for threatening a vampire clearly his better.

The door to Beth's room burst open to reveal Mick in full vamp mode looking for the threat, the source of the overwhelming smell of old vampire, and he found it in Moira. Moira dared him with her eyes, defied him to attack but even Mick had to hesitate when her gaze locked on him. "Back off Mick," Josef barked at him. Josef was afraid, Mick realized… truly afraid. "I made a terrible mistake. I didn't know who she was until now." Moira smiled at Mick, showing off her fangs briefly before sinking them into Josef's wrist and drinking the dark blood that welled up through the wound. Josef relaxed into the bite which he had to admit was not entirely unpleasant, though he mostly hoped to appease her with his submission and thereby avoid death by her hand.

After only a few seconds Moira released Josef, her point being made without truly weakening him, but Josef stayed on his knees in front of her. Moira eyed Mick while she licked Josef's blood from her lips, looking at him like he was going to be the next course. Josef nodded his head in her direction, hoping that Mick would understand what to do, but Josef had to spell it out for him. "Offer her your blood, Mick. Don't antagonize her," he said very carefully.

After Moira's fangs pierced Mick's wrist and he sank to his knees next to Josef, he endured the entirety of her bite while he wondered what the hell was going on and why this very old vamp would want to drink the blood of other vampires. When Moira was done making a show of licking her lips of the last of Mick's blood, he turned to his friend and asked, "What just happened, Josef? Who is she?"

"She's the Sanguis Noctu… Night's Blood."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"The negotiations are over, gentlemen," Moira said as her human façade slipped effortlessly back in place, complete with its heartbeat, scent, and playful green eyes. Josef had the distinct impression that he and Mick were among the very few that had ever survived such an error, though the day wasn't done yet. He wasn't going to make this same mistake twice, so he stayed down on his knees and waited. She could kill both of them without even breaking a sweat and there was simply no need to pretend otherwise.

Moira smiled the smile that said she knew things they didn't, and she was pleased with herself because of it. It was also a smile that promised kindness but was really there to lull you into a false sense of security. She offered her hand to Mick and he accepted as he stood. "Mr. St. John, please return to Miss Turner. I believe she knew what your answer was before we left Utah, and we made a bet on the outcome… did you know? I told her I didn't think it was possible for a vampire of your age and bloodline, your potential power, to be so castrated by fairy tales as to make you believe you'd be any happier as a human. Your innocence cannot be returned to you, Mr. St. John, no matter whether your heart truly beats or you choose to walk the night. I would know." She led Mick back into Beth's room. "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes. I'll turn her, and stay with her," Mick replied.

She looked thoughtful for a moment while she seemed to be tasting something on the roof of her mouth. "Your blood tells me differently… you haven't decided yet, have you? Pity. What you seek Miss Turner holds in her hand, so go to her and retrieve it, but don't say that I didn't warn you." Mick was happy to be dismissed though he looked back at Josef with some amount of worry on his face.

Turning back to Josef, Moira resumed her place standing in front of him and studied him for a time before offering her hand. He cautiously took it though the last thing he wanted to feel on his skin was her touch. "Mr. Konstantine, would you like to see Sara now? Perhaps talk to her? I think she's waited long enough." There was the smile again… the one that was just as much of a mask as Beth's indifference to her fate had been.

Left with no option, they paused at the top of the stairs to recall Moira's servants, who were waiting there as if they knew she was coming. Josef led them down the hall to Sara's bedroom and dismissed the two human men with her, the two that were supposed to kill her if Josef was killed before her. He was quite pleased they wouldn't have to carry out his instructions. As Josef stroked Sara's cheek and pulled back a stray lock of hair, he introduced Moira to the love of his life. Convinced that no matter what happened today, Josef would always remember how beautiful she was laying here now and how much he loved her, even though he hadn't believed in love at first sight until the moment he met her in the subway. As he kissed her forehead, he said a prayer to God for the first time in nearly four centuries, asking for Sara's survival and her safe return to him.

Moira made no apologies as she interrupted Josef. "Now that the dominance display is over, which I have to point out that you initiated, I hope that I can count on your cooperation, or at least your lack of interference?" Josef nodded nervously… It's not like he had much choice in the matter.

Switching her focus and leaning closer to Sara, Moira closed her eyes and inhaled Sara's scent before becoming very still, as if listening. No one in the room dared to move a muscle. When she finally looked at her human assistant, he set down the two cases he'd been carrying since their arrival, and without a word removed two bags of blood and what looked like a sterile kit of some sort. The vampire, Michael, gently pulled Sara down on the bed and pushed one pillow under her shoulders before removing the others and tossing them aside. Josef was even less happy when the man started cutting off Sara's blouse, and he was prepared to try to kill Moira's little pet if he so much as looked like he was going to grope the helpless woman. The entire bed was then pulled away from the wall and Moira stood behind it, prepping the kit and scrubbing Sara's neck with antiseptic. Sensing Josef's confusion, Moira reassured him, "she'll be human soon, Josef, prone to infection like the rest of them. I do not want my considerable time and expense in coming here to be wasted if she dies of a simple bacterial infection."

Josef couldn't stop himself from asking, even though it might put him on Moira's bad side, again. "Are you, ah, a real doctor... for humans?"

That knowing smile again. "Of course I am. I've graduated medical school three times in the last century alone, though I have been a healer, a witch, a wise-woman, and a nurse for centuries before that. The abbey I ran, which I am surprised you knew of, was the medieval equivalent of a hospital for both vampires and humans. Since then I have been, at various times this century, board certified in internal medicine, general and trauma surgery, and hematology/oncology, in addition to being awarded doctoral degrees in biochemistry and molecular engineering."

"Good. I'm glad to see you've decided to give up the assassin gig," Josef said, trying to sound lighthearted. He clearly remembered hearing his sire talk about the Night's Blood, a human or maybe even several humans that were said to not only have blood poisonous to vampires but an unnatural speed and strength that no mortal should have ever possessed. Worse than that, she was said to be able to make the pull of her blood irresistible to her prey so that they would follow her anywhere, do anything for a taste of that poison. Tales of her victims were used to frighten the fledglings, to convince them that bad behavior and compromise of their secrecy would bring death swiftly to their doorstep. Josef knew the warning very well for he had heard it many times: feed under the veil of darkness and choose carefully your night's blood.

"Who says I've given it up?" she said seriously without stopping her preparations.

_Oh hell. I've invited the Grim Reaper to play with my beloved. _A long needle was inserted into Sara's jugular vein while they talked, which really didn't make Josef feel any better since it was the same vein he had used to drain her so long ago. He changed the subject. "But do you know… I mean… have you done this before?" Josef had returned to biting his nails and was for once pleased that they regrew quickly enough that he wouldn't run out.

"On a vampire that I was actually interested in saving? No. But it does work with systemic silver poisoning, quite well actually, though I'm afraid that Miss Whitley has some silver deposits in her deeper tissues, which are much harder to remove." This fact didn't seem to bother her, "conventional medicine says that it is impossible to chelate silver from the tissues, but there are ways." A thick rubber tube with several branches was threaded deeply into Sara's neck and Josef had to look away, a fact that Moira did not fail to notice.

The two bags of blood were hooked up but not started. Moira waited for Josef to look back at her, and at Sara. "It would be best," she said to him, "if you were to step out of the room for a time, perhaps an hour or two, so that I may do what needs doing without your pacing distracting me."

"What are you going to do to her?" Josef asked.

"If I tell you would you challenge me again?" Josef thought she looked almost hopeful that he would answer yes.

"No, not now that I know who, what you are. But Sara is everything to me," Josef said quietly. _I'll die if she dies._

"I have no reason to harm her, Mr. Konstantine. None at all. I consider her my patient, as other doctors feel about their patients, so do not worry."

Her voice was reassuring and professional, and Josef wanted desperately to believe her, but he had become cynical since losing Sara the first time. "You have no reason to help her either. What's in it for you? You haven't asked for much in return, other than a chance to torment Mick which I do approve of, by the way," Josef said.

Moira smiled at his humor, but continued with her reassurance. "Perhaps I want to see you two 'live happily ever after' as Miss Turner believes you will. I was impressed with her, you know. You and your Sara were her biggest concerns, even as she slipped into unconsciousness from the fluid crushing her lung and her heart."

Josef couldn't help but smile, "that's Beth all right. When she sets her mind to do something, nothing gets in her way, not even her impending demise," he said with a hint of regret. He felt guilty suddenly that he had somehow commandeered the last few days of her life when he could have just taken care of her in L.A...made her comfortable there like Mick suggested instead of letting her run off to face the unfriendly vamps by herself. But her tenacity was the reason there was a chance for him to erase his own regret over turning Sara and damning her to this half-existence. He owed her, and at this rate he'd owe Moira also. After a moment, he added thoughtfully, "thank you for taking care of Sara… and Beth. Her friendship means a great deal to me also."

"Really? From the bites on her I was under the impression that you two were more than just friends," Moira said while raising her eyebrows suggestively, which didn't quite seem to fit in well with the mood of the MASH unit she'd set up in the bedroom of his other lover. Josef had always hoped that Sara could hear him when he talked to her here, now he suddenly wished she couldn't.

Seemingly pleased with the look of embarrassment on Josef's face, Moira tried again. "So Josef, as I would very much like to have the majority of my work with Sara completed before dawn, would you please volunteer to step out while I am still asking nicely?"

"I think I'll go check on your other patient," Josef said with a last longing look at Sara's beautiful face before he closed the door behind him.


	17. Chapter 17

Moira continued, "Before you stand, Mr

Thanks again to all those who have left feedback… feedback makes me write faster. There will be one or two more chapters, but we are nearing the end of the saga. I'm humbled that anyone would want to read so much of what I've written. -Laurelin

--

Chapter 17

Left standing by Moira just inside of Beth's room, Mick was still trying to decide what had just happened in the hallway when he realized that Alexandra and the nurse, Rebecca, were staring at him. The doctor offered him her chair at Beth's bedside, and Mick gratefully accepted. The expressions on the two women's faces were somber and businesslike as they went about taking care of the frail-looking woman as she lay there unmoving.

The room smelled like antiseptic and chemicals. It smelled like a hospital with its cloying scent of death; not the slow decay of vampirism, but of mortals who were dying by inches, one organ at a time. Beth's face was a pale white, almost like she'd been drained but somehow was still breathing, albeit not very well. There were vampire bites on both arms and both sides of her neck, in various stages of healing, and as he looked them over Mick felt responsible for each one… he could have prevented this, could have protected her from being attacked, from entering a world he had tried to keep her away from. He didn't understand why there were so many bites, why they wanted her to suffer so much.

Although he wasn't so sure he wanted to know the answer, he asked Alexandra, "Doctor, you said that Beth had more vampire bites on her than the last time you saw her in L.A. How many bites did she have then?"

She looked like she didn't want to give up the answer, as if somehow she was going to be in trouble with someone. "Three. One on each side of her neck and one on her wrist. There is one new one on her neck and an additional four on her arms at my count." She busied herself with drawing up some medication in a syringe.

"Did she say who bit her, Alexandra? Please."

"You know I don't ask that question." The look on her face clearly said "back off", so he let it drop.

Mick found Beth's hand under the covers and held it in gently in his own, stroking her cheek lightly and whispering her name in the hope she would wake up. When she didn't, Mick turned to Alexandra.

"What's wrong with her? Why won't she wake up?" he asked while trying to contain his desperation.

The doctor looked like she'd done this a hundred times as she laid her hand on his shoulder. "She's very sick. Josef said he told you she had cancer. It has spread all over her body, and she would certainly have died by now if she had not received the interventions she did. I don't know if she'll wake up, but there's a chance she could regain consciousness soon, as the large dose of Valium she needed to stop a seizure during the journey should be wearing off soon. But Mick, she doesn't have very long, so spend what time you can with her now."

Mick hadn't cried since the night he thought he had killed Coraline… the same night he had met Beth. It was only fitting he supposed, that he should cry at her death also. The doctor and nurse backed out and stood just outside the slightly opened door, allowing Mick to grieve in private. He sat there for an hour, watching her breathe and longing to hold her, but the tubes and machines that were keeping her alive for a few more hours made that impossible. _She's supposed to be awake. I'm supposed to ask her if she wants me to turn her. If she says no, I'll stay here with her until she dies and at least she won't be alone. But I want her to say yes. I want her to wake up, to ask me to turn her. I can't do this if she just slips away without so much as a goodbye._

There was nothing to do but wait for her to wake up, if she was going to wake up. He held Beth's hand and talked to her of the things they had done together, how he'd stayed in L.A. long past the time he should have relocated just so he could be near her, protect her. Mick told her how he'd felt the first time she'd kissed him in that parking lot, how much he wanted to go to her then, and how he wished that cop had never caught them there in the park so he could have gone on kissing her forever. Even though he didn't think Beth would be aware of it, Mick leaned over and kissed her lips lightly.

Josef cleared his throat loudly. "I'd recommend turning her first, Mick. You'll find she's a lot more interested in sex when she's conscious and has your blood in her veins."

Mick turned to him, "how can you joke around at a time like this? She's dying, Josef."

"Well, she'd stop dying if you'd just bite your wrist and put it up to her mouth. You do remember how vampires are made, don't you?" Josef asked sarcastically.

Not bothering to justify that comment with a response, Mick gently laid Beth's hand back down on the bed and walked over to his friend. "How's Sara?"

"I wish I knew. Miss Prissy Bitch 'asked' me to leave so she could do whatever it is she is going to do, and I'm not feeling so comfortable with that." Trying to change the subject and distract himself from what his imagination was conjuring, Josef asked, "how's Beth?"

"You didn't ask the good doctor on your way in?" It was Mick's turn to be sarcastic.

"Of course I did, I just wanted your interpretation of 'she doesn't have very long', because I'm thinking it's different that mine since you haven't turned her yet. What the hell is wrong with you Mick? She loves you. Turn her." Josef was having trouble hiding his frustration.

A low moan from the bed kept the discussion from coming to blows, and both men headed for Beth's bedside. Josef had to stop himself from touching her, from looking too concerned, too caring in front of Mick. He didn't want Sara to wake up to find him newly, well permanently, dead because he had slept with Mick's girlfriend.

"Hi, Beth," Mick said cautiously while taking her hand again, wondering just where he stood with her and if she was going to exile him a second time. He bent and kissed her forehead, hoping that she would take it as a peace offering.

"Hi, Mick," she said sleepily. "I love that you're always here…and kissing me… when I close my eyes." She rubbed her face against her pillow, which Mick now recognized was covered with his jacket, turned inside out so the soft lining was against her cheek. _She kept this with her? To remind her of me? _Beth closed her eyes again and she stayed that way, seemingly asleep for nearly a minute before startling and cringing like she was in pain.

"Beth? Are you alright?" Mick asked, and when she didn't respond he called for the doctor who checked Beth's lungs and looked at the monitor nearby. Beth began coughing up blood-tinged froth, for lack of a better description, and the smell of her blood made Mick vividly remember the one time he had fed from her. _Why did it have to be that way? It should have been romantic, or at least when I wasn't so hungry._ Her blood reminded him that he was hungry now. Backing away under the pretense of letting Alexandra work, he concentrated on keeping his control. Finding Beth helpless and bleeding appealed to the predator in him, especially since the topic of draining her had been on his mind all day. Deep inside, he remained a killer, and he knew it.

Alexandra retrieved a syringe of medication from one of the cases and administered it before turning off the IV. "Her lungs are filling with fluid on the inside now, and that won't get better with the chest tube she has in. I'll do what I can to slow it down, but I need to know if you want me to put her on a ventilator when the time comes, and to what extent you want me to take heroic measures to keep her alive, Josef." She was looking at Josef as she spoke.

But before Josef could answer Beth's eyes fluttered back open. "Josef?" she whispered. She looked so helpless laying there, Josef thought as he took her hand and her forehead like a father would kiss a child.

"I'm here, Beth," he said quietly and took her hand.

Beth tried to smile at him but half of her mouth didn't move at all. "I have something for Mick. Will you give it to him when you see him again?" Josef and Mick exchanged glances that spoke volumes about how serious her condition was. She had no idea that Mick had just been there holding her hand a few moments ago.

"Of course I will," Josef said.

Beth pressed a small metallic box no more than an inch square into his grasp. "It's the cure, Josef, the permanent one. Moira gave it to me. I had just enough blood left to make it for Mick." She smiled like she was happy with herself for the last part even though her eyes were closed again. "Give it to him soon… Lance is after it too." she coughed a few times and struggled to catch her breath. "Josef?"

"I'm here, sweetheart."

"Tell Mick…that I love him, ok?"

Josef stroked the side of her face in a gesture that was more intimate than Mick was comfortable with… it went beyond the platonic touch of friends. It was tender, like the touch of a lover, and Beth moved her head slightly towards his hand to rub her cheek against it. "Beth, Mick's here, you can tell him yourself. He also wants to ask you something."

Another cringe of pain made Beth's breathing speed up from its already elevated rate. She held on to Josef's hand tightly to keep him from leaving. "Call your friend, Josef…the one you told me about. I'll go with him." Alarms beeped on the monitor at the side of the bed.

"Out of the way," Alexandra ordered him, with all hint of her usual deference or friendly nostalgia gone. She pulled over a machine with a large plastic mask and strapped it firmly over Beth's nose and mouth and turned it on. After a minute Beth's breathing seemed to ease and she was asleep again.

Josef returned to where Mick was standing. "What's she talking about Josef, what friend?"

Taking Mick's hand, Josef closed Mick's fingers around the small metal box. "Marcus Trent is the name he uses now. He owes me a favor for saving his wife's life two hundred years ago. I told Beth that since she didn't want to impose on me or Sara, and she didn't think you'd want her as a vamp, that I would call him and ask him to do it. He's already on his way. His plane left London about two hours ago, but realistically we're looking at six or seven hours before he can be here." He looked at Alexandra as he said the last part, and she shook her head 'no'. Mick looked down at the cure in his hands.

A woman's voice from the doorway interrupted their discussion. "No outsiders," Moira said. "I told you on the phone that I would keep her for myself if you two didn't want her."

Mick immediately took offense, "she is _mine_," he said defiantly. "Don't you touch her."

Moira laughed. "It's a little late for that, Mr. St. John. She offered me her blood freely, multiple times, and I accepted. Don't act all surprised. Where do you think that compound you hold in your hand came from? The main ingredient is her rare blood, mixed with mine in my veins. She begged me to make it for you and Sara, even if it killed her in the process. Try not to look so ungrateful towards me, or deny me that life which you would throw away."

Enraged that this woman had bitten _his_ Beth, and then more than once, Mick raised his voice. "She may have let you in the past, but you will not touch her again."

"Are you planning to challenge me for her? You will lose," Moira said with a trace of satisfaction. "Or were you somehow thinking of sharing that compound with Miss Turner after she becomes a vampire?" The look on Mick's face gave away the truth. "Ah, now I understand why you were uncertain before. You hoped to have your cake and eat it too, didn't you? Once she is vampire, no matter how long she has been that way, if you give her that compound, you will kill her. Turning her will not kill the cancer, Mr. St. John. It will just cause it to become dormant, insignificant, for it is not necessary, just as vampirism does not cause someone's appendix to disappear when it is no longer needed. Give that poison to her and the cancer will grow as before, but unlike this time, there will be nothing you can do about it."

Mick looked destroyed by that knowledge. "Then let her be a vampire, but she is not yours to turn."

Josef decided to intervene before Moira could up the ante. "You can both stop arguing now, because Beth happens to be mine_._ It's my mark she bears, and I have first right to her."

Mick's now healed jaw dropped as he stared at his friend. "What?"

"Damn, Mick, I figured you would have smelled it when you sat with her. I marked her. That makes her mine." _This is not going well… I don't know which of these two is going to kill me first. _

"You did what?" Mick asked again.

Moira was looking way too amused at the verbal sparring match they were having and Josef got the impression that she'd enjoy seeing it become physical. He turned to her and asked in his most polite voice, "We'll just be a few minutes here sorting this out, madam. Perhaps you wouldn't mind waiting downstairs? I'll send a human to feed you… whatever it is you eat."

"But of course," she said with a sparkle in her eye that said just how entertaining she found this. Josef motioned for Rebecca to follow Moira out but gave her a look that told her to be careful. Alexandra made no move to follow her nurse, and she stayed by Beth's side.

Josef put his hands in his pockets and tried to look innocent. "I couldn't just send her out there to deal with vampires without at least a moderately powerful vamp's stamp of ownership, Mick. She'd have just been food to them, and they wouldn't have told her anything. The mark gave her credibility."

"She would never have consented to that kind of a bite. You forced her," Mick said as his anger grew. He was comfortable with anger, it was familiar and almost comforting, and it made him forget his grief for the moment.

"Beth asked me to, Mick. I did nothing to her than she didn't want."

The pieces were starting to fall into place in Mick's paranoia. "What else did she want from you, Josef? The other bites on her before she left L.A. were yours, weren't they? Tell me you didn't, Josef. Tell me you didn't sleep with her."

Josef readied himself for the possibility that he was going to have to kill Mick in self defense. He felt the stake in his pocket slide easily into the palm of his right hand while he said nothing.

Mick vamped out as his anger boiled to the surface. "You just couldn't leave her alone, could you? You had to seduce her. You have all those human women living with you, any one of which would have been happy to hop in bed with you for meaningless sex and you had to seduce the only woman I love?" He took several steps towards Josef with rage in his eyes as Josef pulled the stake from his pocket and braced for the attack, allowing his vampire to come out to play.

Before Mick got to Josef, the smell of human blood overwhelmed them both and immediately distracted them from the fight. Alexandra had stepped in between them, with blood welling up from both wrists. She held one arm out to each of them, touching them. "Drink, both of you," she commanded.

With that much blood right under their noses, neither of them could resist, and at that point they both wanted a reason to stop. The fresh blood Mick had on the plane had somehow primed his hunger for more, which was one of the main reasons he had switched to retail in the first place, but it was so close to his mouth, and so freely offered. He sank his teeth into her wrist and drank deeply, while Josef followed suit a second later, after he was sure Mick wouldn't kill him while he was enjoying his meal.

When Alexandra started to weaken and her knees gave out, Josef picked her up gently, his human face back in place. "That's enough Mick. Let her go." Mick withdrew his fangs and looked suddenly horrified at what he had done, but the blood had cooled his temper. While Mick watched, Josef licked the wounds closed after he set her down on a sofa at the back of the room. Her heartbeat was strong and Josef knew she'd be fine; he always took care of his "girls". And he would take care of Beth.

Josef stood up and handed his cell phone to Mick, who still looked shell-shocked by everything that was going on. "Call Daniel, my pilot, and have him get the plane ready." Josef started unbuttoning his very expensive shirt and tossed it aside, but he wasn't looking at Mick anymore. He was looking at Beth. "Take Sara back to L.A. as soon as Moira says she is ready to travel. I'll meet you there as soon as I can and we'll settle this. Now get out."

Josef started pulling out Beth's IV's and the tube in her chest while Mick watched. Suddenly the reality of what Josef was about to do hit him. It was like he'd been asleep this whole time, like it wasn't real until that moment. This was no longer theoretical. Mick put his hand on Josef's shoulder. "Tell me she wanted this, Josef. That even after what happened… between you two… that she still wanted me… still wanted this."

"It's you she's in love with, Mick, not me. I gave her permission to let go of her guilt for leaving you, since you couldn't get over yours. But she'd go back to you in a heartbeat if you'd have her."

"Do I have to challenge you for her, since she bears your mark?" Mick asked seriously.

"Not as long as you give up this ridiculous quest for mortality. You can't turn her and then leave her again. I won't let you do that to her."

Mick pressed the small metal box that he'd been holding this whole time back into Josef's hand. Keep it for Sara in case something happens with her recovery. If she doesn't need it, destroy it." Josef nodded and stepped back, giving Mick a formal nod of both respect and permission.

Free from all the medical equipment, Beth's breathing became more labored. Mick gathered her up in his arms and sat back down on the bed with her on his lap, surrounded by his embrace. He rolled up his left sleeve, said a prayer to the God he thought had abandoned him until this moment, and buried his fangs in Beth's neck. A quiet moan escaped her lips but she was too weak to resist as Mick drained her. When her heartbeat slowed and became irregular, when she was just at the edge of death, Mick bit into his arm and watched the dark thick blood pour out of the wound as he pressed it to Beth's mouth. For a moment nothing happened and Mick felt panic start to build inside of him, and he looked to Josef for help.

Josef reassured him, "it's ok, Mick. Give her a few more seconds."

Just then Beth started to move, to swallow the blood that was filling her mouth. Mick heaved a sigh of relief when her hands came up to grip his arm tightly and hold it in place while she drank. Delicate little fangs bit into his flesh and Mick was convinced he'd never felt anything so wonderful in all his years living or undead. Once she'd had enough, Beth released her hold on Mick's arm and snuggled into his chest before falling into the utter stillness of a vampire's sleep.

Josef whispered to Mick from across the room where he was helping Alexandra up, knowing that Mick could clearly hear him. "You'll need to feed her again in about two hours. I'll send you a freshie before then." He paused at the doorway, smiling. "Congratulations, Mick. You didn't fuck this up," he said before closing the door behind him.

"I love you, Beth," Mick held her more tightly and allowed his own exhaustion to overcome him. He looked forward to falling asleep with her in his arms like this every day for eternity.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Dusk

Josef resumed his attempts to wear a hole into the carpet by pacing in front of Sara's door. The longer he was left out here the more anxious he got about the whole situation. _What if something went wrong? Would they even tell me?_ He hadn't heard much out of anyone in that room, just the occasional movement, but no one inside the room had spoken since he'd come down from Beth's room. A part of him felt jealous of Mick having forged with Beth the intimate bond of sire and child, but Josef knew that he would have his hands full when Sara regained consciousness… if she did.

Alexandra had just come back from supervising Mick's feeding on one of the human men that, and was happy to inform Josef that Beth had also taken her second feeding without difficulty, and both vampires were still "snuggling in bed." She had resumed resting on the Queen Anne bench in the hallway where Josef could keep an eye on her. She'd lost a fair amount of blood, but not enough to threaten her life… he thought, though he honestly hadn't made a habit out of drinking blood from women her age. Listening carefully to the sound of her heartbeat, Josef reassured himself that she was well.

"Josef, I'm fine. Really. You forget that I've done this before… though it has been awhile." Alexandra looked wistful at the thought, like she'd missed being one of Josef's "girls" more than she'd admit. "But more importantly, it worked," she said as she carefully bandaged both wrists.

Josef smiled at her the way he used to before placing a tender kiss on her forehead. "Of course it worked. Did you have any doubts?"

"I never doubt you, Josef. I've known you too long not to trust you. You've always done your best to keep the girls safe, and satisfied too, if I might be so bold. I remember Mick from the days when he accepted your hospitality regularly, and he was always courteous with us, even generous."

"I would never have allowed him near my girls if he wasn't, you know that, Allie. Thank you for being here, and for everything."

She smiled at Josef, knowing that her youth was gone but she was still pleased to be of service to this man who held a special place in her heart. He put her through college and medical school, opened her eyes to worlds most humans never saw, and she'd always be in his debt. "You know I'll always come when you call, Josef. Always. I'm just sorry that my blood and body have gotten so old while you stay so young and handsome."

Josef leaned down and kissed her chastely on the back of the hand, then on the lips. "Your blood is like a fine wine, my lady. It only gets better with age."

"You always were the charmer." She was flattered, but at the same time felt her age. "But I've been meaning to ask you if you might be employing more donors… perhaps some young men this time, or should we call them your 'boys'? I imagine that those two women are going to need a lot of fresh blood, and perhaps they'd be interested in my two sons. They're quite handsome, you know, and have just finished college. They very much want to work for you, though they only know of your professional accomplishments. I'm sure I could enlighten them as to their other potential duties with your permission."

"Not too handsome I hope. I can't have Sara's attention diverted from yours truly and Mick is going to want to keep Beth all to himself after this." Josef found himself enjoying his conversation, thinking about the future with Sara, and hopefully with Beth and Mick assuming that Mick could eventually forgive him for his night of passion with Beth. "Send them over to talk to Michelle when, and if we get back to L.A. in one piece. I've already asked her to hire some young men for my fledgling ladies."

Alexandra stood up and headed for the kitchen. "I'll do that. They'll be thrilled they can work for the legendary Josef Kostan." She laughed. "If they only knew what awaited them…"

Josef appreciated the distraction from waiting, and he realized now that had been the whole point of the previous conversation. He found himself wondering if he should have turned Alexandra when she'd asked all those years ago. She complemented him well.

Before he could head back to pacing, the door to Sara's room opened and Michael appeared, closing the door behind him.

"Mr. Kostan?" It was the first time Josef remembered hearing the man speak since he arrived.

"How is she?" he asked, trying not to sound too desperate.

"She's doing well. She will recover quite nicely, I think. Her wounds are nearly healed, so if you'd like to see her now you may, but please try to be rational about what you see." The man was professional and even pleasant… an odd surprise given that he didn't seem to possess the ability to speak earlier in the day and he bowed to the scariest vampire Josef had ever had the privilege to meet. He found himself wanting to agree with the vampire.

"I plan on it. Another run in with your mistress is not what I had in mind."

The expression on Michael's face said that he was glad to hear it, if not a bit amused. Apparently he'd been on the receiving end before, Josef thought. "Please come in then."

"Excuse me, I have to ask, what wounds are you referring to?"

"It doesn't matter now. They are mostly healed." Michael led the way into the room and went to stand at Moira's side at the foot of the bed. A chair had been set next to the bed, and Josef sat down. Sara's face was the first thing that Josef noticed. It was… wrong… somehow. Too pink, too shiny, her nose and mouth too…unfinished? Then the enormity of what had happened hit him. _The must have cut out half of her face._ There were three red garbage bags in the room, and they all reeked of blood, Sara's blood. Josef struggled to remain in control of his anger and horror, because he knew any outburst in this room would end badly for him and therefore Sara. Four hundred years of practice allowed him to contain his vampire, but not his remorse. Moira and Michael watched him with Sara, as if they were taking mental notes for future use, but they made no move to interfere.

Two large bags of blood were simultaneously being given by the IV Moira had inserted into her neck earlier, and as Josef watched her body seemed to be repairing itself. Some dried blood was caked in her hair and he tried to pick it out carefully as he didn't know what else to do to help her. Eventually he decided that he was not going to be able to remove the blood without soap and water, Josef's fingers traced the rapidly healing skin on Sara's face, relieved that it seemed to be healing as a vampire's should.

Alexandra used to tell the new girls he hired that they should not ask questions they didn't want to know the answer to. This was one of those times for Josef, but he couldn't help himself. He closed his eyes and held Sara's hand as he asked Moira, "has Sara been aware of what has been happening to her, how long it's been? Could she hear me all these years?"

She looked thoughtfully at Sara for a moment before answering. "I honestly don't know if she was aware of her surroundings, of you, or that she had been turned. But what you want to know even more than that is if she was in pain while I removed the contaminated tissue. The answer to that is no. She felt no pain, and she was truly asleep for that… and she will be for a bit longer."

"How can you be so certain of one and not the other?"

"Just as there are ways to mask the effects of vampirism, there are ways to chemically manipulate vampires. I fed her my blood."

Her blood was poison to vamps, and had been the downfall of many of powerful vampires throughout the centuries. It was said that once they fell for her charms and began to drink, they did not stop until they had become too weak to stand or move, allowing for fire or beheading at her leisure. "You poisoned her?"

"Some would choose to look at it that way, though I consider it therapeutic. Do not worry, it is only temporary… until she is given the so-called Cure to awaken her. Besides, why would I come all this way and spend hours removing the damaged tissue only to give her a larger dose? Contrary to my reputation, I rarely enjoyed killing vampires; I only did so because there was no one else that could take out the most powerful ones when they threatened our secrecy. Josef, I did not come here to hurt your Sara. Think about what you are asking."

Deep breaths were not needed by vampires, but the human habit helped calm him. "How can you be sure she felt no pain?"

Moira sat down in the chair that Josef had so recently vacated next to the bed and pushed back a stray lock of Sara's red hair. "Do you know what I was called before I started to hunt vampires? I was the Abbess of Armagh as you pointed out, but that was a human title bestowed by the Church." To Josef's amazement, Michael reached out and laid his hand on her shoulder in a strangely gentle offer of comfort. More surprising was that she accepted the gesture, and covered his hand with her smaller one. _This woman is either very good at manipulating my reactions to her, or she really is… sad?_

She looked Josef in the eye. "Do you know what the bards called me? Who the locals sought out for relief from their pain and sickness? Vampires came to me from all over Europe… many of those like your friend, Mr. St. John… those who wanted an end to their eternal life while still holding onto hope of entering Heaven, or those who wanted a way to feed their hunger without risking human life."

Josef shook his head. He had only known that she once had been a renowned healer, but had since become the vampire equivalent of the boogie man.

"I was the Night's Mercy. She felt no pain, Josef, I swear it to you."

He wanted to believe her. Josef was careful to not appear threatening but he was angry at her for her secrecy, angry at himself for causing this to happen to Sara in the first place. But more pressing was that he was waiting for the other shoe to drop; for Moira to lay down her price for this help, or for Sara to be snatched away from him at the last moment. For the first time since he turned Sara, he had hope, and he wasn't willing to part with it easily. "What do you want from her? From me? Why are you here, Moira?"

Moira examined Sara's face once more as she ignored the question. "She needs your blood, Josef."

He looked up at the vampire like she had just suggested they take a stroll in the sunlight. "But she's already had it. Besides, I've tried before, and it doesn't help."

A small trickle of her power rippled out from her when she stepped closer to Josef, blowing past him like a cool breeze. "Mr. Konstantine, you are 431 years old, the product of the very wealthy and powerful bloodline, thanks to your sire. You have served in four different wars, spent two hundred years at the vampire courts of Europe and the same in America creating your own. Have you learned nothing during this time?"

He looked up from Sara to find Moira standing right in front of him, but he didn't step back. "I'm not sure I understand." _I certainly want to understand how she knows so much about me, things that Beth never knew and therefore could not have revealed. _

She backed down into her human package again and tried to look innocent. "Trust, Josef. Trust. You haven't gotten where you are now without trusting on occasion. It is not a thing to be given easily, very much like love." The way Moira looked at Sara reminded Josef of the way his mother had looked at him when he was a child, full of expectation and motherly affection. "You trusted Sara with our secret, knowing that she could choose to run from you and find others to hunt you down. But you trusted her because in your heart there was no other choice."

"You're asking me to trust you?"

Moira smile again, the one that reminded Josef she was way ahead of him. "Lean close to her and breathe her in. Her scent is different now that most of the silver is gone, almost enough for her to awaken. Feed her your blood. It will help her heal, reaffirm your bond, and help to calm your fears."

There would be no information forthcoming that Moira didn't want to volunteer, Josef realized. He leaned close to Sara's neck, near the place where he had bitten her so long ago, and inhaled deeply. _She does smell different, younger, more human._ Carefully lifting her head he slid an arm underneath her and pulled her up against his chest as he sat down on her bed and bit his wrist, holding it to her slightly open mouth. He felt the blood trickle down his wrist and into Sara, and his heart ached at the sight. It reminded him too much of the first time, when he had taken Sara's glorious life and sentenced her to this terrible half-existence.

To his surprise, she started to swallow slowly, reflexively, but it was more than she had done since the original turning. Josef looked at Moira with blood-tinged tears in his eyes, finally allowing himself to surrender to faith, something he had not had the courage to do since he was a child. He held Sara close while she drank, letting his head rest on the top of hers. When she was finished, Josef carefully laid her back down and cleaned the blood from around her mouth.

"Whatever your price, I'll pay it, just bring her back to me. Please," he pleaded.

Moira smiled and reached in her pocket for a small metallic box that was similar to the one Josef had in his. She removed a scalpel from a package by the bedside and sat down on the bed on Sara's other side. As she lifted Sara's arm and prepared to make the incision, the front of Moira's shirt exploded in a spray of blood. The deafening sound of glass breaking contrasted with the muffled thumping of a silenced rifle.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Thanks again to everyone who has left feedback. The response has been better than I could have imagined, and it is definitely inspiring me to keep writing. - Laurelin

Chapter 19

Josef threw his body over Sara's, hoping to protect her from the bullets, but as one pierced his right shoulder and a second lodged his left calf, he knew he had to get them down on the ground. He rolled them both off the bed and onto the floor while he pulled the bed over Sara. The pain was spreading outwards from the wound like fire, like silver. _Shit. They're definitely hunting vamps_. The bed wasn't adequate cover since it didn't keep bullets out, but it might help to slow them down or at least keep the shooter from being able to aim at them. He didn't think Sara had been hit, but the room had smelled like her blood before the larger chaos ensued.

He saw Michael run full speed out of the bedroom followed quickly by the sound of the front door opening. Josef thought he heard footsteps on the roof also. The sound of muffled gunfire continued, but none of it seemed to be directed at this room, so he had a chance to assess the injuries. Josef quickly looked Sara over and found only his blood on her nightclothes and he heaved a sigh of relief.

There was rustling on the bed and what Josef could only assume was swearing in some language he didn't understand, followed by Moira's voice barking orders to her human assistant to "fix him." She then ran outside following in Michael's footsteps, and Josef decided he'd have to figure out later how she was able to even stand after those wounds. Josef tried to get up but the silver was wreaking havoc with his strength.

The human quickly pulled a prepared kit from one of the supply bags and opened it in front of them, ducking behind the cover of the bed as much as they could. A large pair of forceps quickly dug into the hole in his shoulder and searched for the bullet, and a few seconds later it was not-so-gently removed. Josef groaned. Mick was right, he really had a terrible pain tolerance for a vampire, but it was quite a rare occasion that he had to have bullets dug out of him. Neither man said anything while Josef kept reassuring himself that Sara was fine, and that since Moira ran out of the room after being shot multiple times in the chest by what he assumed were also silver bullets, he guessed she was alright also.

When the second bullet was similarly removed, Josef felt only slightly better in that the burning weakness wasn't spreading anymore, but it wasn't going to heal without blood. He was already hungry from feeding Sara, and he'd had very little from Alexandra earlier. Before he could decide how to ask the nice man with the bloody pliers about some extra stores of blood, the man's bare wrist was held in front of him.

"Drink." Odd that it was more of a command that an offer, but this man of few words was returning him back to fighting strength in a remarkably short amount of time. As he bit down and drank deeply, he wondered just how many times this man had dug out bullets from vampires and then closed the wounds with his blood. It just didn't seem like this was the first time that he'd done this. Probably wasn't his twentieth either, because Josef's wounds were closed and he was back to normal in less than two minutes.

The man did not permit Josef the time to close the bite wounds because he was out the door with a sawed-off shotgun before Josef knew what was happening. _Damn, what else do they have in those bags they brought with them? Seems like everything needed to fix vampires and kill them too. And what the hell _is_ that woman?_

There would be time later to worry about these things, and Josef needed to get Sara somewhere safe before more bullets found their way into the room. He pulled her up into his arms and ran up the stairs with her, hoping to put her into the strong room that he'd built, ironically, as a refuge for the protection of the staff should she ever wake up without him nearby. Alexandra, Rebecca, and the two men were already inside, the men standing guard with the firearms he'd issued them earlier. Josef handed Sara off to Alexandra, grabbed the .45 semi automatic and his old rapier, and vamped out for the fight. If anything could have gotten past Michael, Moira, and then their pet human, once it came up the stairs Josef knew he wouldn't be a match for it anyway, so he might as well go up.

Movement behind him as he closed the door to the room caught his attention, and Josef swung around with gun and the rapier at the ready. At the last second he recognized Beth standing at the doorway to her room with a jagged chair leg in one hand, still wearing the hospital gown she arrived in but looking the proper vampire with her pale blue eyes and new fangs. But there was no time to admire or congratulate her. He locked the door to the strong room again… the last thing his humans needed was a run-in with a newly turned vamp. "Go back in your room, Beth. You'll be safe there."

Beth glanced down the stairs and looked back at Josef as if she was trying to decide which way to go.

"The downstairs is clear for the moment, but that could change, and you aren't ready to use your new skills in a fight like this, Beth. Please go back into your room." She looked towards the safe room and then started to walk down the hall past him, but Josef grabbed her by the arm to stop her, and noted that such an action wasn't as easy as it once had been. "Please, Beth, for me. Stay up here and protect Sara."

Beth suddenly looked at him like she had heard him for the first time. Well, at least the higher brain function had heard him because she stopped sniffing the air like she was on the trail of someone, probably Mick, and actually looked at him. The sounds of fighting on the roof were audible to them both, and he knew Beth wanted to go find her sire. "I'll go after Mick, I promise, Beth. Just stay here and protect Sara." He knew Beth would get herself killed if she went up there thinking that just because she was a vampire she could survive this fight. Hell, he wasn't sure she was thinking anything that wasn't base instinct, and he wasn't sure if that stake was for Mick's attackers or for Mick himself.

She nodded at Josef and stepped into the doorway, but refused to have the door to her room closed, and he got the impression it was because it being open helped her see the strong room where Sara was. As Beth stood guard there, Josef knew he didn't have time to argue with her any further and headed off to the roof to help Mick. What he found up there made him glad he hadn't waited any longer. There were two vamps down, one with various limb deformities that weren't healing, and another with most of the back of his skull bashed in, and again seemingly out of blood to heal the wound. The smell of gunpowder permeated the area, and there were several discarded guns littering the scene. Mick was fighting off two male vamps in spite of not being able to use his left arm, which was hanging limply at his side.

Preferring not to get his hands dirty, Josef took aim at the first vamp's head and hit him twice in rapid succession, dropping the man like a sack of potatoes. The second vamp noticed the gunshot and his companion down, and that second of inattention to Mick was all that was needed for him to land a blow solidly into the vamp's chest. The sound of the sternum cracking echoed across the roof to Josef and he wasn't surprised to see Mick's attacker collapse unmoving. What surprised Josef was Mick falling over a few seconds later.

There was no room for error tonight and no logical reason why the four vamps should keep their heads, so Josef removed them efficiently with his blade before heading over to check on Mick. Two bullet holes in the left arm and one in his abdomen left little doubt what the problem was. These vamps weren't shooting regular lead slugs as the smell of silver was everywhere. A blur of movement at the periphery of Josef's vision caught his attention and he raised his gun, preparing to fire, when he realized the new vamp was Michael and he was holding his hands up in a very non-threatening way.

"Everything alright here?" Michael asked, quickly scanning the surrounding buildings for more hostiles.

From his position flat on his back, Mick answered before Josef could, "yeah, great. No problem at all, why?" The wincing somehow made it less convincing.

"Four dead vamps, you full of holes, and your friend with a recently-fired gun? I'm just trying to figure out if everyone is done shooting each other."

"For now," Josef said, "but what's the status out front?"

"We need some major cleanup, and you're going to need to use some connections to keep the cops from responding en masse to the likely dozen phone calls from your neighbors."

"There are no neighbors that would all the authorities. All the guns were silenced, and I own every house in a radius of one block. The humans that live here belong to Marcus; they won't call the police, they'll call him." Michael seemed satisfied with the answer and nodded his approval. Josef lifted Mick off the ground and put the good arm over his shoulders, half dragging and half carrying his friend towards the stairs.

"Is Beth okay?" Mick asked between short breaths.

"I just saw her two minutes ago, in her room and she's fine, don't worry. She was headed out to find you and she had a stake in her hand, so I hope you didn't say anything to piss her off. She's going to be one hell of a vamp, Mick."

Mick didn't bother to suppress his smile. _That's my girl._

Michael walked ahead of them down the steps, still on alert for more attackers. It wasn't until they were back inside did Josef notice that the blood he was smelling wasn't from the vamps he'd killed or from Mick, it was the blood splattered all over Michael's clothing and the machete that was tucked backwards up against his forearm. The vamp looked relaxed and even pleased and the sudden turn of events. _Damn, remind me never to piss off this guy._

"Michael?" Josef asked, "would it be permissible for me to call in more donors? I know Moira said only two, but…"

"How many more do you have in town?"

Before Josef could answer, they came up to the strong room to find Sara and the humans just as Josef had left her, but Beth was gone. Mick looked worried but wasn't exactly up to doing much else about it, so Josef left him in Alexandra's care and ran down the stairs with Michael to find Beth standing over a man laying face down on the living room floor. There was a wooden chair leg sticking out of his back, right through the heart, out the front of his chest and into the floor.

Moira was standing next to Beth, smiling at Michael and Josef and looking quite proud of the fledgling vampire. She scented the air for a moment before she slipped her cell phone out of her pocket and hit a number on speed dial. "This is Mother. I need cleanup at 301 Waverly Place, approximately fourteen bodies, and we'll need two donors and another six units. Locals are all knowledgeable and compliant." She dropped the phone back into her clothing before returning to the task at hand.

"Michael, would you be so kind as to turn our guest over so Josef can see who it is that has crashed his little party." Michael pulled up on the staked body and on the stake itself until it was freed from the floor and the body could be turned on its side without dislodging the stake. A groan escaped from the man as he was moved, but he was completely unable to voluntarily move.

Josef's eyes widened in surprise and he suddenly had a new concern for his future safety. He looked at Moira initially, before realizing that Beth was the one that had the slight splatter of blood on her shirt that smelled like the staked man. To both of the women Josef said, "You staked Lance in my house? I assume he's not going to survive his mistake, but he has very powerful allies. They'll come after me for this… or have you already come up with some sort of plan to prevent that?"

The smile said it all. "Of course I have. He'll be going back with me, complete with the stake that Miss Turner so skillfully placed. We'll settle the rest later." She looked at Beth, who up until now had been staring and the blood dripping slowly from the wound in Lance's chest. "Go ahead dear, drink."

Beth was at Lance's neck in a heartbeat, with her fangs sunk into his flesh. The sound of her drinking was audible, and Josef moved towards her to pull her off. _Lance isn't her sire, it's Mick's blood she needs, not his. It won't help her and for all I know if might hurt her._ But before he could lay a hand on Beth, Moira was in his way.

"It will help her, Josef. Lance is one of the strongest of their shared bloodline, one of the oldest. His blood will bring her power that Mr. St. John cannot, a head start so to speak, but it will not harm the bond she shares with her sire."

"It's doesn't work that way, Moira, and you know it. And she's too young to be drinking from anyone other than her sire or a human." Josef tried to move past Moira. He should have known better.

Moira laid a hand on Josef's chest, gently at first, almost like the touch of a lover, but when he tried to go around her she moved her hands to his shoulders and knocked him onto his back, then sat down next to him and replaced her hand lightly on his chest, moving her fingertips in light circles there. "I know the stories, the rumors, the tradition, Mr. Konstantine. I started them all." She looked back over her shoulder at Beth draining Lance and beamed. "It was decided that this practice was to be forbidden because it encouraged younger vamps to hunt their elders, or even elders of other bloodlines. So it was effectively discouraged long before you were turned. But it does work, and well at that, and she will gain some of the power his age has given him. I'm pleased Beth had the chance to experience it in private, where _no one_ would dare say a word. Isn't that right, Mr. Konstantine?" Her voice held the threat where her words were pleasant and even polite. Michael's face glaring down at Josef was more open with the potential for hostility.

"Right, of course. I'm pleased too." Josef decided discretion was the better part of valor in this case. "And of course no one need hear of it, and I'll be sure to perpetuate that bit of misinformation with Beth and Sara both."

"I knew you would," Moira said and stopped caressing Josef, heading off to lay her hand on Beth's shoulder. "That's enough now."

Beth lifted her head and nodded at Moira, the blood having dripped down onto her chin and even pooled on the floor from where she'd bitten Lance and had been too full to continue drinking his blood. Josef tried his best to look stoic, but every part of him that was a vampire said that what she was doing wasn't natural or normal. _Sure, during sex there's biting and blood sharing that can be really good, but it's not feeding, it's not this much._

"Great, now that that's finished, I'm going to go help Mick upstairs since he's got a few silver bullets in him, and maybe find him some, ah, fresh human blood to heal those." No longer distracted by draining Lance, Beth noticed Josef again since he was the first one to speak, and she walked over to him swaying her hips like she was on the catwalk. She hadn't even bothered to wipe her chin or neck from the blood, though it had helped her slip back into her human face for a little while. The blood only made her more beautiful, Josef thought as his vamp tried to come out to play. She looked more confident and healthy than he'd ever seen her, and her body drenched in blood walking towards him the way she did made Josef hard instantly. She was like the playboy centerfold from the yearly vampire edition. _Certainly better than the last ten years without question._

As if she heard him thinking that, Beth shed the hospital gown and stood in front of Josef totally nude before reaching out and pulling him closer by his collar. "Yeah, Beth, I'm not totally unappreciative of the view, or of your fashion choice here, but I think that Mick would probably rather…" She kissed him full on the lips, the taste of Lance's blood still fresh on her mouth. _If that had been human blood, she would have had me, even in front of Wicked Witch and her little vampire too._

Josef pulled back but she followed him and started to undo the buttons on his shirt. "Beth. Stop. Beth!" He grabbed her hands and tried to hold them still in his. Mick was certainly going to stake him if this continued… that one night she came to his bed Josef might be able to explain away, but not this. Beth wasn't thinking clearly. Instinct was all she had at this point, and fledglings who were very well fed tended to move on to their second but no less important hunger when the bloodlust was satisfied: sex.

Beth forced her hands out of his grip and threw him backwards to land on the oriental rug, then straddled his hips with her own as she leaned down to kiss him again. _That damned trick works, there's no other way she could have gotten out of my grip as new as she is. It had to be Lance's blood._ He groaned from the grinding of her hips onto his groin, and knew if she kept this up he was going to give in… he'd never been much for refusing such a willing, gorgeous, blood-drenched, naked woman like the one that was undoing his belt at that very moment. The fact that Beth really had no idea what she was doing, (well, ok, she knew what she was doing quite well if the last time was any indication,) but that she really wasn't making a conscious decision here… as far as he knew… _Oh hell._

Mick was probably upstairs, probably conscious, and probably listening to what was going on. "Hey Mick!" He called out loudly. "Um… your girlfriend is looking like she's about to rape me down here. Maybe you could come down here and fetch her back up to one of the bedrooms with you? Mick?"

After Beth ripped open his shirt, her head moved down towards his chest and lower, pulling his pants down over his hips, Josef found his hands pinned beneath hers with strength he either didn't want to or couldn't overcome, he wasn't sure which. Looking up for some sort of assistance from Moira or Michael, he noticed that the two of them had left the room, along with their recently-staked catalyst for Beth's desire. She licked him for a moment, letting her new fangs barely graze before pulling herself up and sheathing him within her. Josef gave up trying not to enjoy it at that point.

A shirtless Mick was suddenly standing over the two of them, his wounds healing quickly and fresh blood at the corners of his mouth. The look on his face wasn't anger as Josef had expected, but arousal as he knelt down next to them and called Beth's name softly. His voice seemed to draw her attention and she looked at him for a moment before kissing him deeply. The smell of blood and their arousal permeated the room as Beth finally let go of Josef's wrists to run them through Mick's hair as they kissed.

"She's blood-drunk, Mick, I swear I didn't start…" Beth's hips slammed down hard and effectively silenced Josef as he was no longer capable of coherent thought with the feel of her so tight around him. His hands went to her hips to help control the speed, but then he remembered she wasn't human anymore, and he didn't have to restrain himself. He wasn't going to hurt her, in fact she was more likely to hurt him at this point, but if her moans of pleasure with each thrust were any indication, she wasn't being hurt in any way she didn't enjoy. Josef made sure he was deep inside her each time she ground her hips down, increasing the sensations for both of them, and the vamp in him liked the idea that he was the one who would show her what sex between vampires could be like.

Beth finally released Mick's lips and moved down to kiss and bite lightly at his neck, making him groan and hold her head there tightly. Mick's hands were all over her breasts, rubbing her nipples between his fingers until she cried out in pleasure, the sensations close to pushing her over the edge. Josef sat up but continued to thrust into her as he licked the place on her shoulder where he planned to sink his teeth as Mick did the same to the opposite side of her neck. Beth came screaming, her fangs sinking into Mick's shoulder as he and Josef both drank from her, the shared blood and sharp sting of teeth bringing the three of them to orgasm at the same time. After a moment that seemed to last forever, they relaxed and Beth fell against Mick's shoulder in what looked to be a very sated sleep.

As Mick held her close he looked at Josef and sighed contentedly. "Yeah, she is blood-drunk all right. But please don't sleep with my girlfriend any more unless she's coherent and not dying when she comes on to you, and you ask me first, okay? By rights, she's now mine," but he ran his hand through his hair and smiled lovingly at the blonde who changed his life, "but in reality I think that she might try to claim us both as hers." The smile told Josef that he was forgiven for now. Mick pulled Beth into his arms and started to head for the stairs when he heard a car door slam outside. "The Cleaner just showed up. Maybe you should hit the showers before they come inside."

Josef smiled and tried to make some order out of his shredded clothing before going up to check on Sara on his way to the much needed shower.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Josef stopped on the way to check on Sara, reassuring himself that she was still sleeping and secure in Alexandra's care. He hadn't slept in more than twenty-four hours, had no time in the freezer, been shot twice, fed blood to two different vamps, had a round of rough sex with Beth, and not quite enough blood to compensate for all of the above. He was tired. As he waited for the chilled water to come up in the shower, he stepped into the bedroom and called the hotel to arrange for two of his freshies to change places with the ones who'd already donated, except for Alexandra. She had to stay. He also called Marcus to let him know to alert his people that the threat had been neutralized, and that Mick had actually turned Beth so his services in that regard weren't needed. Josef refrained from volunteering any other information about the night's events, it was just too much and he was too tired, so he promised to meet with Marcus the next night.

The icy cold water felt so good that he no longer felt cheated on the pricetag for that apparatus. Josef made a mental note to tell Beth about this feature, since as a new turn the cold would be calming and probably help clear her mind. _Right, and now I need to stop thinking about Beth naked in the freezing cold shower and the things that cold would do to certain parts of her anatomy…_

Shaking his head, Josef focused on Sara. God, he missed her. Laying in bed next to her when he came to New York was a small pleasure he allowed himself in the rare moments when he dared to hope. He wanted to hold her and be held back, to kiss her and feel her smile again, even if she were human and had to stay that way for a mortal lifetime. Today he might actually get his wish, if he lived long enough.

As he stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel, the towel seemed to come to him… in the form of Moira's outstretched arm. Again accompanied by that know-it-all smile and a sense of amusement that Josef knew was at his expense. If he'd been human he'd have had a massive heart attack right then, seeing her there in his bathroom. Josef hadn't heard her enter or sensed her in any way. _I'm either that tired or she is that good, and the latter one scares me more._ Determined to appear the confident four hundred year old vampire, he let Moira get a good look at him naked before he started to dry off. Plenty of women had seen him naked over the years, he knew, and the vast majority had been quite appreciative. Okay, most of them weren't ridiculously old vamps with reputations for killing the most powerful of their kind. But Moira looked at him for a moment longer than was strictly necessary to make her point, if she had one.

As he wrapped the towel around himself, he noted that Moira hadn't said a word. He really was not interested in seducing her… ever… and he was starting to question if his little display had been a good idea. "What can I do for you, Moira?" he said before instantly regretting his choice of words.

"Well I'm not here for your body if that's what you mean."

Josef tried not to look too relieved. If he'd had no idea who and what Moira was, he would have considered her attractive, but he knew this kind of beauty was too much like the ocean. Calm and gentle one moment but deadly cruel in the next. "Then why are you here, in the bathroom with me?"

"I want you to see some of the bodies of your attackers before the Cleaner takes them. You will be down soon, won't you? Besides, I imagine Beth will be storming in here any second looking for some privacy now that she's aware of what she's just done." As if on cue Josef looked towards the door as he heard Beth's footsteps at a fast, but human pace, and when he turned back Moira was gone.

The Beth that rounded the corner looked fully awake now, as if she had finally shed those initial hours of fuzziness brought on by the transition from human to vampire. She stared at Josef in surprise, not expecting him to be in the bathroom, but she quickly averted her eyes from his half-naked body. "Get out!" she shouted at him when he didn't move.

Josef had heard that tone of voice from many women in his lifetime, both mortal and immortal, and he knew what it meant. He didn't argue and got out of her way vampire fast, both because it wasn't wise to try to reason with women that upset and it was just better for him to let them have their way. Once he was out the door, it slammed loudly behind him, and Josef wasn't surprised to see Mick stop just short of having the door hit him in the face.

"Beth? Please open the door. It's okay, really. Josef and I both understand. Don't we Josef?" Mick looked at Josef like there was no choice but to agree.

Josef talked as he got dressed in clean clothes. "That's right. We both understand… whatever it is that needs understanding here. And that's why Mick is going to give you as long as you need in there to think. He'll be waiting out here calmly for you when you're ready to talk to him, and I'll be downstairs hopefully waking up my Sleeping Beauty. You're welcome to join us down there when you're ready. I know Sara would love to meet the courageous woman who saved her life."

Mick just shook his head at Josef as if complaining that his friend had somehow set the rules of engagement here without consulting him. He wanted to go in there and hold Beth and tell her everything would be ok, but now waiting outside was the plan.

"Come on, Mick, you remember what it was like when you first really understood what had happened, don't you? It's like waking up from a dream, or in your case, a nightmare. Give her a little while to process it and she'll be fine." Josef patted Mick on the shoulder in a very male-bonding kind of way. "She loves you, Mick, she'll come around, even if she won't be able to look either one of us in the eye after that little ménage a trios." Josef couldn't help but smirk a little before heading downstairs.

Sara had been moved to another bedroom under Alexandra's watchful eye since her usual one was full of bullet holes. It was being repaired at an astounding rate, with the blood gone from the floors and walls, and two men taking measurements for new windows, but it wouldn't be ready in time. Moira was downstairs talking to a female vamp who looked like she had just stepped out of "The Matrix", complete with the dark glasses and flowing leather coat. Long red hair was tied up in a tight mass that looked more suited for an elegant dinner party than clean-up duties. Josef knew instantly who she was, and seeing her with Moira snapped into place the answer to a question that had long bothered many a vamp. Every cleaner, in every major city he'd ever been in since he was turned, was a tall woman with long red hair, very much like Moira. It used to be a sort of joke that the physical attributes were a prerequisite for the job, or that Celtic women were just naturally well suited to the job of kicking ass and concealing truth. _But it is so much more than that._

As Josef approached, the Cleaner bowed to Moira formally and said, "as you command it, Reverend Mother." A body bag was brought over and unzipped before him, revealing a dead vamp who was maybe thirty-five when he was turned. Josef expected to see a decapitation, or a stake wound, broken neck, or even burns to explain why the man was well and fully dead, but the only visible mark was a scratch across his cheek. Moira was looking down into the bag with an innocent look of wonderment that Josef knew was completely false, as if she were mocking his surprise and naïveté.

"What killed him?" Josef asked cautiously.

The coldness returned to Moira's eyes before they faded to white. "Not what, Mr. Konstantine. Who."

"You did."

"Very good." Moira nodded to the Cleaner, who reached inside the man's shirt and pulled off a gold chain off which dangled an ornate cross in an Italian renaissance style. "But when this bauble shows up on the doorstep of his lover, who happens to be a rather new resident of your fair city, what postmark will the package bear, do you think? Or perhaps I shall send it by a special courier?"

Josef just looked confused.

"Salt Lake City, or perhaps directly by your friendly neighborhood Mormon, in a satin box imprinted with the profile of the Angel Moroni." He'd heard of such things before, an identifying piece of jewelry, a ring finger complete with ring, a head… though not for at least forty years. It sent chills up his spine.

"I'm sure that you will advise the grieving woman that you had heard Lance and some of his group were considering an infiltration or even assault on the poor unsuspecting Utah town… something you knew to be a very bad idea. Marcus will say the same to two acquaintances of other vampires whose reach has certainly exceeded their grasp."

The gold cross was being packaged as they talked, mostly for Josef's benefit he suspected. "But how do you know who… where…?"

The smile said it all. "The Mormons really are excellent record keepers, Mr. Konstantine. They have the most extensive genealogical records of any single organization in the world. Is it hard to believe that they would end at mortal death where immortality is concerned? Before the Mormons I have had the Masons, the Knight's Templar, certain other secret elements of the Church before them, but I find the Mormons to be much to my liking."

_Oh shit. _A well organized, structured hierarchy with members in every city in the world, most living exceptionally moral lives as part of a group no one would ever connect to the vampire culture. Moira at the head of some secret subset with the Cleaners who answer to her, and a veritable encyclopedia of vampires? It made her the vampire… what? Ruler? Queen? Mother?

Moira enjoyed watching Josef's eyes widen as he figured out what had been going on right under his nose for centuries, and what kept powerful vampires in North America, and perhaps Europe before that, from declaring open season on the humans. "Are you ready to play in the big leagues, Mr. Konstantine?"

"As I am ever interested in self-preservation, the answer would have to be yes," but if it were possible for vampires to break out in a cold sweat, Josef would have been drenched.

"I though as much, though to your credit, your reputation and your skills precede you and you will be quite the asset to me. You have demonstrated yourself eager to keep our secrets from humans and maintain order in your city, and you have chosen an excellent enforcer in Mr. St. John. Miss Turner will also be useful in protecting us by her use of the media while giving warning to those who know how to read between the lines. This is my price, Mr. Konstantine. You will help me perpetuate the rumor of my city's impregnability and of the wrath the Mormons have in waiting for vampires, in addition to continuing your fine tradition of keeping your city safe for our kind and hidden from humans. I trust that we have a deal, do we not?"

"Yes, Reverend Mother, we do." _She's not just one step ahead of everyone else, she's three, or ten. She knew coming here that Lance would attack and she'd not only kill him but gain a vassal, protect her stronghold, and perpetuate the reputation of her soldiers. Not bad for a day's work._

Glad that Josef had finally caught up, Moira took his arm like he was her proper gentleman escort from centuries ago, and led him up to Sara's new room. Alexandra was seated next to the bed in what Josef had come to think of as her usual place ensuring the health of the women in his life. Moira placed a hand on the doctor's shoulder and said, "you may go for now. Thank you for looking after our patient." After a dismissing nod from Josef, Alexandra left, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Now where were we when we were so rudely interrupted before?" After flashing Josef her signature smile, Moira popped the small metal box out of her pocket along with a fresh scalpel. "Are you ready, Josef?"

He sat down on the soft mattress next to her, hardly believing that he could have her back after what he'd done. "I've been ready for decades." Josef took Sara's hand and held his breath as Moira made a small cut in the crease of Sara's other arm and pressed a small amount of reddish goo into it. She placed a band-aid over the wound and leaned close to Sara to breathe in her scent. Moira nodded in apparent satisfaction and looked at the two younger vamps with a strangely motherly look on her face before suddenly disappearing from the room and leaving him alone with the woman he loved so dearly.

Sara's eyes fluttered open and she looked at Josef with the same trust in her eyes that she'd had before he turned her. "Charles? Is it done? I don't feel any different."

He silenced her gently with his lips as he gathered her in his arms and held her body close, and for the first time in half a century she wrapped her arms around him and returned the embrace. Blood-tinged tears ran down Josef's face as he kissed her. Finally he pulled back to look at her, so alive and human, the same Sara he fell in love with. "I'm so sorry, Sara. I'm so sorry. I love you so much," he sobbed. Not touching her was unthinkable at that moment. There was a need to feel her heart beating, her breathing, the warm skin of her cheek, and that need was more powerful than he could ever explain.

She smiled at him like not a moment had passed since that night he'd tried to turn her. "I love you too, Charles." He kept her close and let his head rest on her shoulder, trying to find a way to tell her the truth and somehow beg for her forgiveness. "Please Charles, tell me what's wrong." She paused for a moment and Josef felt her stiffen slightly. "I can feel my heart beating… yours never did… so it did not work? It will be alright, Charles, I promise. You can try again soon." Sara was the one consoling him, not the other way around. _She always surprises me, that's part of why I love her so much._

Josef pulled himself back to give her some room, mostly mental space, but he wanted to physically give her the chance to run from him. He deserved it, and he knew it was unfair to use his unnatural strength to hold her in his arms against her will. Leaving the house wasn't an option, but a Beth-like run for the bathroom wasn't unexpected. Practicing this speech countless times did not make it any less difficult for Josef, but Sara deserved the truth and he knew it.

"Sara, I tried to turn you, but something happened and you didn't wake up. This is going to be difficult for you to accept, but you've been asleep for fifty-five years. It was all my fault." Finally daring to meet her eyes, he begged for absolution, forgiveness, punishment… he wasn't sure. "I'm so sorry, Sara. You've been asleep for so long, and I didn't know how to get you back until today."

Every glance around the room, at his clothing, the realization that things were different, cut Josef to the heart. He'd kept her room down the hall in the1950's style she was used to, but this spare bedroom was modern in detail, complete with flat screen TV and cordless phone. The anger that usually follows denial had to be coming, so Josef went to stand up in preparation, but Sara grabbed his hand and tried to pull him back towards her.

"So what is to become of me now?" A look of sadness and resignation settled on her beautiful face in a way that reminded him of Beth when she'd come to his office that night.

"What do you mean? You can do anything you like, but I was hoping that we'd spend the next few months acquainting you with the twenty-first century." He tried to reassure her with his smile.

It was her turn for tears. "Did you marry someone else?"

He reached for her but she flinched back from him, and he let it go. Expecting anything but that question, Josef replied, "no, no. Of course not, baby. Why would you think that?"

"It's been so long, Charles. I wouldn't blame you if you had moved on… I never wanted you to be alone. You said before that you had turned others into what you are, but something must be wrong with me…"

"You're the only woman I've ever truly loved. I meant that when I said it then, and it's been true every day for the last fifty-five years. Sara, I love you. It doesn't matter if you're human or vampire, but you haven't aged a day because of the turning and you may only be human for a few more months." After he said it Josef realized how confusing that must have sounded. "It's never been a question of worthiness or love, it was a problem of chemistry and biology. A friend of mine discovered why you weren't waking up, and a doctor came today to help you, but you'll have to be human a short time longer."

The large IV in her neck drew her attention and she touched it carefully. "That's for the medicine that you'll need to take, but it's only temporary. You will hopefully be a walking, talking, blood-drinking creature of the night like me before summer, and I'll be here with you at every step." He took the heart-shaped necklace from his pocket and held it out to Sara. "If you'll have me."

When she reached out for the locket and nodded, Josef felt something release in his chest… a tightness that he'd held there for fifty-five years. It was as if a great weight had suddenly been lifted from him and he let the bitterness and guilt go much more easily than he ever thought he could. Closing the clasp of the chain behind her neck just as he did that day so long ago, Josef couldn't help but think of Beth's wish that he return to being the man that Sara fell in love with. He planned to be that and more for her. Maybe the universe really was on his side this time.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

After the third "no" from Beth, Mick abandoned his post outside the bathroom door in favor of the chair near the bed. Beth was still in the shower and unfortunately she didn't seem to want company, so Mick resigned himself to waiting. He wanted to tell her how much he understood about the first few hours after the turning, and how there was never supposed to be an all-out assault on Josef's townhouse on the day she was turned. They were supposed to spend the next few days together, skin to skin, where Mick could help her control the impulses or at least channel them in safe, or even enjoyable, ways. He tried not to be mad at Josef for what happened, because in the end, it was Mick's fault. She would have been in his bed in L.A., become his child there in relative safety, and never been forced to deal with the cancer alone, or have to run to someone else's arms because he was being stupid. But what's done was done, he reminded himself, and Mick knew she was his in every way that really mattered. I have eternity with her now… why am I so impatient to get started?

Finally Mick heard a faint whine of disappointment from the bathroom followed by the water in the shower being turned off, but he forced himself to stay where he was and let Beth come to him. Nothing happened for at least fifteen more minutes, and Mick was starting to get worried as he tried to remember if there was a window in that bathroom that Beth could have gotten out of. Just when he'd decided it was time to go in to check on her, he could smell her on the other side of the door. Her voice was quiet and almost child-like, much as it had been that day when he'd rescued her from Coraline. "Mick? Are you still out there?"

"I'm here Beth. I never left. Can I come in?"

"Would you, um, get me some clothes first?"

Mick smiled. Time for modesty? After what they'd done such a short time ago? "Yeah, I'll get your things for you." Her suitcase seemed unusually light given that she'd left town and didn't plan to return. Knocking quietly on the door, as he knew that she could now hear it perfectly well, he set down the suitcase and stepped back. The door opened long enough for Beth to see that Mick was in fact not standing there, so she took the suitcase and closed the door. Knowing it could be months before she finished getting dressed (that part had never changed with women), he sat back down in the chair to wait, resolved not to push her too fast right now.

When Beth finally emerged, she was more beautiful in her jeans and t-shirt than Mick had ever remembered seeing her. Vampirism does tend to enhance natural beauty, but Mick realized now that she must have been sick for a long time. Even as a vampire she had more color in her cheeks than she did as a human, though the thorough feedings she'd had today may have helped that. He felt a twinge of guilt at how he didn't even notice how ill she'd been when it was right in front of him when she was human.

"You are so beautiful," he said as he stood and went to her, stopping just short of embracing her since he wasn't sure if that's what she wanted. He reached out for her slowly and just rested his hands on her shoulders when she didn't pull back. Fledglings were emotional if nothing else, and Josef had joked that the female fledglings were the worst in that regard.

"I can't make my face go back to normal." She looked disappointed, and somehow fragile in spite of the fangs and ice-blue eyes.

Mick held out his arms to her and she stepped into them, resting her head on his shoulder as he pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "It's alright, Beth. I'll show you how, and it will get easier every day, I promise."

She loosened her hold on Mick long enough to look up into his face. "Did you, I mean, were you the one who…"

"I think you already know, but yes, I was the one who turned you. That was what you wanted, wasn't it? I never had a chance to ask you before it was… going to be too late if I waited. Josef said you told him you wanted to be turned. If he lied…"

"He didn't lie, Mick. I wanted this, I just know that you don't," Beth said, and Mick let out the breath he'd been holding, relieved that he hadn't committed the same sin Coraline had with him. But blood-tinged tears pooled at the corners of her eyes. "You were going to be human. That's what you wanted. The cure…"

Hating that he made her feel guilty right at the start of her new life, he tried to reassure her of his change of heart. "Beth, I enjoyed a lot of things about being human… but the reason I really wanted to be human was so I could be with you. I can survive just fine without the hot dogs, donuts, and even the sun as long as I have you. My only regrets are that we weren't able to do this in a quieter and more familiar setting, where neither one of us would be distracted by a dozen attacking vampires; and that I lied to you when I said that if you were dying I would have let you go rather than turn you. I honestly believed that you were healthy then with a long life ahead of you, and I thought you were going to ask me to turn you sooner if I'd said yes that night. I'm so sorry, Beth. I just wasn't ready for that before… and I should have known you were sick."

Mick just held her close when she didn't say anything. She fit perfectly in his arms, like they were made just for this purpose, and to Mick, all was finally right with the world. He'd been fighting who he was for too long, but now that he was in love with another vampire it somehow made their shared traits seem less awful. For that he'd always be in her debt.

Beth stepped back to look at him with a questioning look, like she was remembering something that was a long time ago. "There were vamps shooting at us."

"You don't remember? When I had to leave for a little while? The footsteps on the roof and the breaking glass downstairs?"

The memories were coming back to her while Mick watched. "I staked someone… Lance? He sent someone to kill me in Utah. Moira and Michael killed him…." She touched the side of her neck, then the other side and her wrists, and seemed surprised that the bite marks were gone. Last time she had consciously been aware of them her wrists and neck had been covered in bites.

Mick understood and ran his fingers over the now perfect skin. What she knew about him as a vampire was still new and miraculous when it was her own body. "They all healed when you fed from me."

Beth thought she remembered where most of the bites came from, but there were several from when Moira had bitten her that were just hazy glimpses. Then she remembered Josef and the three times he'd bitten her, how much she'd enjoyed it… and how much Mick would condemn her for that even though she wasn't in love with Josef. But Mick wouldn't understand any of that. She flung herself back from him and looked like a cornered wild animal as her survival instinct kicked in. If he'd seen the bites, Mick would have smelled Josef's mark and known about them, about what she'd done. He knew what had happened with Josef downstairs because he's seen it himself. She knew Mick wouldn't want her anymore after that. He would hurt Josef and reject her. She had to get out, get away before it happened. Somewhere else… somewhere safe.

She bolted for the door and jumped down to the landing without touching any intervening steps, and again down to the floor below. Mick followed her but tried hard not to directly pursue his fleeing fledgling. If she felt like she was prey she'd try to get out of the house at best, or try to fight, and he didn't think she was ready to deal with either. Mick knew this would be short-lived as the emotional pendulum swung back the other way and she would seek his comfort again. He had done the same thing with Coraline countless times, the fighting, beating each other just to end up in having sex a few minutes later. But then again, he had hated her. _Please don't let Beth hate me too._

She heard Mick calling her name but she still ran. Beth didn't know where she was going for certain; it just had to be away. Then she remembered Josef. He's here somewhere. He'll keep Mick from hurting me. "Josef!" she yelled, hoping he could hear her. "Josef?" she repeated. Mick was keeping his distance but trying to get between her and the front door, a tactic that Beth had not failed to notice. Deciding that there had to be another way out, she turned and headed to what she hoped would be the kitchen, and ran straight into someone who had not been there a second ago. It was Moira who touched Beth's face and calmed her fears. "That's enough, Beth. Relax."

Beth's anxiety melted away and she settled her head onto Moira's shoulder even though she had no idea why. When Beth was human, Moira had clearly been a vampire, but now they seemed to have completely switched roles, and somehow this human Moira was… the smell suddenly changed and disoriented her. There was too much that didn't make sense to her, and hell, there were new senses that she didn't even understand. The smell of blood so close was too much for Beth and she leaned her head down and tried to grab Moira's wrist. There was blood there, just under the surface, it was waiting for her to open the skin and drink, even though she didn't feel hungry.

"Stop," Moira commanded, and Beth complied as if she had no control of her own actions.

A hard stare at Mick seemed to be searching for something in his face, and whether Moira found it Mick didn't know because Josef bolted into the room looking worried. Whatever was going on here was clearly not something that Josef really wanted to get involved in, but he was concerned about Beth and he owed her for saving Sara. Big time.

"What's wrong, Beth? Are you alright?"

"I think so, yes." She looked back at him as if she wasn't sure what he was asking or why, and her body language said she was relaxed or even happy. Then why the desperate call for him only seconds ago?

Mick decided to intervene at the risk of making Beth nervous again. "She just got spooked. I'm not sure why, but she just took off like she was trying to get away from me. I don't know if it was something I said, or did, or.."

"Beth, you called out to me. There had to be something…" He started to walk towards Beth, but then seeing her there in Moira's grasp made him pause ten feet short of both of them, and suddenly the reality sank in. While he had tried to avoid angering Moira after their physical confrontation earlier in the day, he just couldn't help himself this time. When he looked at her, there was a coldness in his eyes that made Beth flinch while Moira only raised an eyebrow at him as if she were curious, and again, ten steps ahead of him.

"You had no right. Fix this before it's too late for them," he demanded as he walked within striking distance of Moira, his eyes changing to their pale blue, challenging her without actual contact. "Now!"

Mick interrupted, "fix what?"

Moira inclined her head towards Josef as if to acknowledge his insight and his request, for she was certainly old enough to avoid having to take orders from anyone. "If it is any consolation, I thought I had 'fixed' this, but perhaps the interruption of our little skirmish and your… inability to resist sexual advances from a woman, altered the process." Michael appeared slightly behind and to the side of Moira as if readying himself to back her up should the pushing coming to shoving start as he never took his eyes off of Josef.

Leaning down to whisper in Beth's ear was completely unnecessary since everyone in the room was a vampire and could hear quite well what she was saying, but she spoke softly and reassuringly to the fledgling. "Go with Mick, Beth. He'll take care of you and he loves you." As she continued talking to Beth, she directed her eyes to Mick as if giving him firm instruction to not go against what she was telling his child. "He forgives you for anything you may have done while you were ill and not thinking clearly, and anything you've done since he turned you. Mick will take care of you. You feel safe and happy with him, remember?"

Beth seemed to nod in agreement at everything that Moira was saying, and went to Mick as if on command. He wrapped his arms around Beth and kissed her forehead.

"Take her upstairs and feed her your blood again, then stay with her, touching her. Your touch will help to keep her calm and make your bond stronger. Since Sara is awake now, she may not appreciate Miss Turner making similar advances towards Mr. Konstantine again, so for God's sake, please take your fledgling upstairs and make it clear beyond any doubt who it is that she should seek out when her primal desires take over. And I do not mean her blood hunger, Mr. St. John."

Mick smiled and picked Beth up in both arms, holding her close to his chest. "I intend to do just that, so anyone that doesn't want to hear had better get earplugs," he said before bounding up the stairs two at a time.

Once the door was closed upstairs, Moira turned back to Josef. "Will there be anything else, Mr. Konstantine?" Josef had not budged an inch from where he was standing.

"You had no right to turn her, Moira. That may have been your blood in her transfusion when she arrived, but she was mine, and she was Mick's, and she never would have consented to this."

Moira smiled that all-knowing smile that made Josef want to rip her face off just to get rid of the air of superiority. "You would be surprised at what young Miss Turner consented to, knowing that she would die in just hours. She's practical like I am, and I am never one to leave things to chance, certainly not when a barely fifty-years turned vampire who hates the gift that he has been given is going to be the one to decide if she lives or becomes what he so despises? Or should I have trusted that you would turn her and then try to explain it to your still-human lover why another has taken her place at your side? Or would you have left Miss Whitley in that state? I hedged my bets, so to speak, as I am sure you've done many times yourself."

"Look, I appreciate your help with keeping Beth alive long enough for Mick to bond with her, and I am basically indebted to you immeasurably because of what you've done for Sara. But really, if there's nothing else that you have to do here today, I suggest you leave."

"Well, well. Good to see that you've grown some balls over the last few hours, I'd hate to think I left such a responsibility with a coward. And you're welcome, but as you know, it was only partly out of the goodness of my heart that I came here today. At a glance, Michael moved off to help their human pack their leftover supplies in the bullet-ridden room where Sara had been. "I have given your doctor instructions as to what is needed to care for Sara over the next few months, and she is to send me a blood sample at the end of the treatment cycle. If all is well, you may attempt to turn her again, or perhaps even wait a few months for her human state to wear off. I've left the full course of chelation medication, so it will not be necessary for you to see me again anytime soon… as long as you behave yourself and maintain your end of the bargain."

"I understand the terms of our agreement, and because you have given me back the two most important women in my life, I will keep my end of the deal in good faith, indefinitely. Now go."

As Josef stood at the door and watched the three of them walk back to their ambulance, Josef couldn't help but smile as he overheard Moira talking to Michael. "See? This is what I meant by reinforcing fear of us and fear of violating our sanctuary. I hope you'll manage that task better in the future, now that you've seen how it is done."

It was a small price to pay, Josef decided, for returning Sara to him and Beth to his best friend. When he saw Sara's smile upon returning to her room, how she hadn't changed at all in so many years, he knew everything today had been worth it. His life had led up to this moment, and he wasn't about to waste the gift.


	22. Chapter 22

This is the last chapter. Thank you all for reading the fic that ended up far longer than I ever intended, and I really do appreciate the wonderful feedback. - Laurelin

--

Mick closed the door and sat down on the bed, settling Beth down onto his legs then pulling her up so her back was against his chest. She rested back against him immediately and waited.

"Are you hungry, Beth?" Mick asked carefully. Since she was finally aware of what was going on, she might not love the idea of drinking blood when she wasn't hungry enough for the bloodlust to supersede any initial squeamishness.

"Maybe a little bit, but I know that I'm supposed to drink from you now. I want to do this right, Mick. I don't want to be afraid anymore."

"You never have to be afraid of me, Beth, never." He gave her a reassuring hug and kissed the side of her neck lightly, drawing a moan from her. "So you don't mind the biting then, do you?" Mick was fairly certain he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear her say it so there would be no guilt on his part when the vampire in him came out to play. He didn't want to hold back with her and pretend to be human when he wasn't, and he had no more excuses. She was a vampire and he wasn't going to hurt her… well, not in any way that wouldn't quickly heal. He started to feel her stiffen but returned to kissing her neck, this time with more intensity and the barest scrape of his teeth against her skin. Her moan of pleasure made it clear that it was exciting to her as much as it was to Mick, and he knew he had his answer. "If I'd only known sooner," he said as he kissed her where his teeth had been.

Turning her around so that she was face to face with him, he stroked her cheek gently. "This is where our future begins, right here, right now. Anything we've done before this moment is the past, and speaking for myself only, is forgiven completely. This beginning starts fresh. So if you can forgive me for hating what I am so much, for using it as an excuse to keep you at arm's length… I just loved you so much and I thought you deserved better than me. But now, here we are, and I just want you to know how happy I am to be with you, that I could be the one to turn you, and that I love you, Beth."

"I love you too, Mick. And yes," she said as she kissed the side of his neck, mimicking his earlier actions, "I can forgive you for anything, but please, Mick. I'm tired of waiting for you to make love to me."

He enjoyed the feel of her lips for a moment longer before turning both of them over so that she was underneath him. He pressed his lips to hers, memorizing every last part of them before seeking entrance into her mouth, which she granted immediately. He ran his tongue over each of her two delicate but razor-sharp fangs, knowing that there was a fairly good chance she would bite down, but he wanted know every part of her intimately. And he wanted to show her that it didn't matter that she was a vampire, he loved all of her, vampire and human parts alike. She had shown him that loving her meant not hating what he was.

Beth's fingers tried to undo the buttons on his shirt but she was quickly frustrated and decided that instead of waiting for Mick to pull it off himself, she would remove it for him. The sound and feel of the fabric ripping against his chest made Mick growl low in his throat, for the vamp in him enjoyed that variety of sex. But he pushed it back down, determined that their first time together would be slower and more gently done. _The last thing I want now is for her to get spooked again._

Beth's vampire did not agree with this plan in the least. She loved the feel of the material ripping so easily in her hands and the effect it was apparently having on Mick. Once the shreds of his shirt were off his shoulders, she moved on to trying to open the button on his pants, hoping for an even greater reaction from him.

"Slow down, Beth. We have time," he whispered, his breath caressing her ear while his fingertips brushed lightly up the side of her left breast.

"I don't want time. I want to feel you inside me, Mick." She enveloped one of his nipples in her mouth and sucked hard, then ran her new fangs up and down over the sensitive tips. He closed his eyes and let her do as she wanted for a moment because the feel her teeth all over his chest and down lower to just above his waistband was better than he could have imagined and he had denied himself such pleasures with a woman for decades. She only stopped because Mick's fingers in her hair gently pulled her back up so he could kiss her deeply and have his own turn. Beth's shirt was pulled out of her jeans quickly and he ran his hands up the bare skin of her sides and back as he pushed it up and off of her, to be discarded over the side of the bed immediately. Her bra soon followed and Mick gazed down on her with a look of complete wonderment. He'd seen her without her clothes twice now, but it was entirely different to see her laying there beneath him, arching up into his hands and begging with her body to be touched. He didn't make her wait.

The slightly calloused feel of his hands on the soft skin of her breasts drew a moan from her that was half pleasure and half encouragement for more. After small licks with his tongue everywhere but her nipples, he finally drew one into his mouth and added pressure as Beth held his head there with her hands. "More, harder," she begged him and he complied, taking each nipple in turn between his teeth and pulling on them until she moaned. He could smell how aroused she was and he knew it was entirely because of him, that she wanted him badly.

Mick eased her jeans and underwear off, wanting to feel the proof of her desire and he wasn't disappointed. She was slick with wetness and she smelled like heaven as he breathed in her scent. Beth was lightly biting along his lower jaw over to his ear and down the side of his neck, causing him to shudder in anticipation while making him harder than he thought possible. Suddenly unwilling to wait any longer, Beth half ripped, half pulled his pants over his hips and down, finally allowing her hands to grip him firmly for a second before sliding up and down. The combination of his years of pent-up desire for her and the feel of her soft hand against him was too much and he no longer cared about going slowly. He slid two fingers into her while his thumb made small circles over her clit until she growled low in her throat and arched her hips up into his hand. Mick slid her legs apart further with his knees and teased her entrance while he pulled her hands away and up to his lips to lay a small kiss across each knuckle.

"Please," she begged as she squirmed below him, desperately trying to coax him into her, but he enjoyed making her wait for a few more seconds before he finally sank all the way into her with one thrust. Mick stayed motionless, letting her adjust to his size before starting a rhythm of sliding almost all the way out, then back into her hard. Beth wrapped her legs around him and gasped each time he filled her, and Mick had never seen anything sexier in his life than the look on her face at that moment. She had totally given herself over to the pleasure while encouraging him to go faster, harder, anything to make her come. His fangs extended and his eyes paled; the vampire had come out to play.

He wrapped his arms around her back and up to her shoulders, pulling her down onto him with each thrust of his hips, as he whispered in her ear, "It's ok to bite and drink, Beth, whenever you want. Don't hold back," and he quickened his pace while lowering his head to her neck, feeling the blood just below the surface. Maybe because he already had her blood in his veins, he knew she was close and ground his hips against her with each deep push into her wetness as she moaned his name and pleaded for more.

Guiding her head towards his neck without letting up on his pace, he could feel her need increase when she sensed the blood beneath his skin. As she came she bit down hard and fast, pulling the blood out into her mouth forcefully, balancing him on the brink between pleasure and pain. The feel of her fangs, her bite, hearing his child swallowing his blood combined with the spasms of the muscles that enveloped his cock had him coming right after her. As he bit down into the soft skin of her throat, he could taste that their blood had combined in her veins much as their bodies had. The taste of her pleasure as she continued to come prolonged their shared ecstasy for so long that both collapsed exhausted into each other's arms when it was over.

Beth murmured sleepily to him, "I'm so tired now, Mick."

He smiled at her before picking her up in his arms, her eyes closed and her body relaxed. "Me, too. A few hours of sleep be good for both of us." He carried her over to the new freezer, lifted the lid, and stepped in, settling himself down on his back with Beth's head on his chest. She was completely motionless, no sign of breathing or heartbeat, something Mick decided would take a few days to get used to, but he wouldn't have traded the last hour with her for anything in the world. He finally had his Beth right where he wanted her, he thought as he closed his eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep. He didn't need to dream anymore, everything he ever wanted was right there in his arms.


End file.
